fall 2008 - Northwestern College
fall 2008 - Northwestern College
fall 2008 - Northwestern College
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Magazinethe Classic<br />
<strong>fall</strong> <strong>2008</strong><br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> <strong>College</strong> Faithful Voting<br />
Politics and religion in America<br />
Also<br />
Parkersburg Tornado<br />
From Home to Dorm<br />
Civil Servants
14<br />
When a tornado<br />
devastated<br />
Parkersburg, Iowa,<br />
a <strong>Northwestern</strong><br />
student’s family lost<br />
everything—well,<br />
almost everything.<br />
AP PHOTO/KEVIN SANDERS
Contents<br />
Classic People<br />
Editor<br />
Duane Beeson<br />
712-707-7116<br />
beeson@nwciowa.edu<br />
Staff Writers<br />
Carrie (Odell ‘01) Anderson<br />
Duane Beeson<br />
Anita Cirulis<br />
Dana (Smith ‘93) Daniels<br />
Tamara Fynaardt<br />
Designers<br />
John Vander Stelt ‘83<br />
Anji Bennett<br />
Roy Trevino<br />
Web Designer<br />
Dan Robinson ‘01<br />
16<br />
12<br />
16<br />
20<br />
Movin’ On<br />
Freshmen admit to bringing blankies to college and answer<br />
other questions about leaving home.<br />
Faith in the Voting Booth<br />
Religion and politics expert Corwin Smidt ’68 writes<br />
about the relationship between faith and citizenship—and<br />
how that might affect the ballot box this year.<br />
Talking Politics<br />
Sick of smear tactics and nasty verbal confrontation?<br />
Author and retired college administrator Harold Heie<br />
suggests a better way to engage in political discussion.<br />
The Classic is published quarterly—<br />
in March, July, October and<br />
December—for alumni and friends<br />
of <strong>Northwestern</strong> <strong>College</strong>. So named<br />
because it served what was then<br />
known as the <strong>Northwestern</strong> Classical<br />
Academy, the Classic was the<br />
school’s first student newspaper,<br />
begun in 1891. It has been an alumni<br />
publication since 1930.<br />
Send correspondence or address<br />
changes to the Classic, <strong>Northwestern</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong>, 101 7th Street SW, Orange<br />
City, IA 51041-1996 or classic@<br />
nwciowa.edu.<br />
22<br />
22<br />
Working for Americans<br />
From Washington to Zambia, three alumnae are helping<br />
to protect and represent our country.<br />
Opinions expressed in the Classic<br />
do not necessarily reflect the official<br />
position of <strong>Northwestern</strong> <strong>College</strong>.<br />
On the Web<br />
Sweet<br />
Share pictures of your little trick-or-treaters.<br />
Blown Away<br />
Submit your photos and/or story from this<br />
summer’s floods and tornadoes.<br />
Departments<br />
2 Zwemer View<br />
3 In Box<br />
4 Around the Green<br />
6 Of Course<br />
visit classic.nwciowa.edu<br />
7 Face Value<br />
10 1,000 Words<br />
12<br />
On the cover:<br />
When Americans go to the polls<br />
this November, many will take<br />
their faith with them.<br />
24 Looking Back<br />
25 Fundraising Highlights<br />
26 Class Notes<br />
AP PHOTO/JAmES POulSON<br />
32 Classic Thoughts<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 1
Zwemer View<br />
Capitol Gains<br />
DAN ROSS<br />
In this issue of the Classic you will read about politics, faith, and the need for<br />
respectful conversations and seeking common ground. There are also profiles on<br />
three <strong>Northwestern</strong> alumnae who work as public servants. This timely issue comes<br />
as we prepare to elect a new president of the United States.<br />
Having lived in South Dakota the last 12 years, I had somewhat forgotten about the<br />
major role Iowa plays on the national political scene with the caucuses every four years.<br />
My family and I were quickly reminded as Governor Mike Huckabee made a campaign<br />
stop on our second day as Orange City residents. Shortly after his visit, Michelle<br />
Obama came through town campaigning for her husband, Senator Barack Obama.<br />
I had a unique opportunity to view our federal government up close the last several<br />
years. While raising funds for the McGovern library and Center for leadership and<br />
Public Service at Dakota Wesleyan University, I traveled frequently to Washington,<br />
D.C. Working closely with former Senator George McGovern on this project afforded<br />
me the opportunity to meet Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. House<br />
and Senate, as well as their staff members.<br />
What I observed were, for the most part, dedicated public servants with strong<br />
convictions and a genuine desire to make a difference for their country—albeit from<br />
different political viewpoints. Many were persons who sensed a strong calling to their<br />
work, with a desire to live out their faith in the political arena.<br />
During one of those trips, I asked Senator McGovern why he thought there seems<br />
to be such a division and unwillingness to work together these days. He said when he<br />
was representing South Dakota in Washington, most legislators stayed in the city on<br />
the weekends and socialized together.<br />
He found that when the members got to know one another, they appreciated each<br />
other more—both personally as well as their political convictions and positions. As<br />
they grew to know and understand each other on a deeper level, it became easier to<br />
work together. He does not see that happening nearly as much today, largely due to the<br />
fact that most members leave on weekends to go back to their home states.<br />
What does this have to do with <strong>Northwestern</strong> and our mission as a distinctively<br />
Christian liberal arts college? One of the questions our students—and staff—face<br />
regularly in this curious, impassioned community of learners is this: Is it possible for<br />
sincere Christians to study and discuss various issues—including political issues—and<br />
come to different conclusions?<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong>’s mission is to prepare excellent citizens who bring their faith into all<br />
areas of God’s world, including the political arena. We want to cultivate a spirit among<br />
our students, faculty, staff and the broader community that allows us to engage in and<br />
discuss difficult issues, even political issues, respectfully. Doing so brings honor to God<br />
and to those whom we are called to love and serve.<br />
Greg Christy<br />
President<br />
2<br />
FAll <strong>2008</strong>
in Box<br />
Reflections on Place<br />
From the article entitled “Plains Talk” in the summer issue, it appears Kathleen<br />
Norris discovered the concept of “place” through her Lemmon, S.D., sojourn and<br />
wrote a book about it that resonated enough with some to gain the attention of<br />
the New York Times. That is noteworthy.<br />
Addressing the issue in the environs of northwest Iowa made me recall how<br />
this concept relates to the more subtle and complex notion of territoriality,<br />
especially when applied to the unique Dutch ethnic enclave that endures<br />
in greater Siouxland. I wrote a book, Dutch Farmer in the Missouri Valley<br />
(University of Illinois Press, 1996), and several articles that explored the nuances<br />
of place from a historical/geographic and social science perspective that tried to<br />
be holistic and ethno-culturally focused. Norris’ evocative approach is, nonetheless,<br />
interesting as well.<br />
Reaction to place can be negative as well as positive. Next May is the 40th<br />
anniversary of the Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam. I spent a bit too much time<br />
near that mountainous place as an artilleryman with the 101st Airborne Division<br />
in the spring and summer of 1969. A man named Pickel died there while being<br />
evacuated as a wounded soldier; the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) used the white<br />
cross on the bottom of his medevac helicopter as a target for their rocket-propelled<br />
grenades to prevent his rescue and add six more Americans to the casualty list.<br />
For 10 days, infantrymen with support from 10 artillery batteries, gunships and<br />
fighter jets focused on a horrible place with the intensity of life and death—a place<br />
where about 70 American men died and 372 were wounded. In turn, at least 600<br />
NVA regulars (perhaps as many as 1,000) also perished on Hamburger Hill amid<br />
an onslaught from artillery guns and aircraft that made that rocky crag tremble,<br />
despoiled the mountain’s normal habitat, and left the devastation littered with body<br />
parts and the usual wreckage of war. Being on the receiving end of 60 big guns and<br />
aerial bombardment defies description and numbs those who witness it.<br />
I won’t be celebrating the 40th anniversary of that place next May. Like Norris<br />
noted, all places have stories—be they good or bad. But the solace of prayer<br />
sometimes causes the door of memory about another place to be best left closed,<br />
even while the historian seeks the truth amid the nostalgia or the dark dream.<br />
Dr. Brian Beltman ’67<br />
Columbia, S.C.<br />
Not Amused<br />
After reading “Fun Run<br />
Afowl” in the spring issue, I felt<br />
thoroughly disgusted. Where is the<br />
humor in watching 36 frightened,<br />
bleeding chickens pecking and<br />
killing each other? Maintenance<br />
arrives and starts throwing halfdead<br />
chickens in trash cans. To<br />
hear Scott Simmelink tell it, it was<br />
hilarious (quoting Sara James).<br />
This would have been a good<br />
time to discuss cruelty to animals<br />
for our entertainment. Mahatma<br />
Gandhi said the greatness of a<br />
nation can be judged by the way<br />
its animals are treated. Will NWC<br />
be judged in the same way?<br />
June Van Oort ’63<br />
Orange City, Iowa<br />
SUMMER <strong>2008</strong><br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> <strong>College</strong> Magazinethe Classic<br />
Minding Place<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> holds first<br />
Day of Learning in Community<br />
Also<br />
An Interview with Author Kathleen Norris<br />
Enjoying America’s National Parks<br />
Summer Job Stories<br />
Computer Memories<br />
Coenraad Bakker’s letter<br />
in the spring Classic brought<br />
back memories. When I started<br />
teaching at NWC in 1969, only a<br />
few of us on the faculty had any<br />
computer experience. When we<br />
lobbied for a computer, we were<br />
treated as wild-eyed idealists.<br />
A few years later, I drove my<br />
physical chemistry students over<br />
to Westmar <strong>College</strong> and used<br />
their IBM 1130 computer. The<br />
1130 had a FORTRAN compiler<br />
and employed an IBM card<br />
read-punch unit. Many of today’s<br />
students have probably never even<br />
seen an “IBM card.”<br />
Virg Rowenhorst, a former<br />
banker, recognized the value of<br />
computers, and when he was<br />
inaugurated as president our<br />
lobbying began to pay off. In<br />
the spring of 1976, the college<br />
purchased a Digital Equipment<br />
Corporation Classic computer.<br />
My recollection is that the<br />
Classic cost about $10,000. Input/<br />
output devices included a standard<br />
keyboard, a printer, and two<br />
8-inch floppy disk drives. One<br />
of the Classic’s manuals started<br />
with line drawings of an electrical<br />
outlet and a standard three-prong<br />
plug, and instructed the user to<br />
plug in the computer. Those few<br />
of us who wrote programs for the<br />
Classic used the BASIC language.<br />
Bakker recalls correctly that the<br />
Classic “broke down very often.”<br />
Some of these problems stemmed<br />
from an overheated power supply<br />
caused by a dust-clogged air<br />
filter. Owing to a turf problem,<br />
for months nobody had cleaned<br />
the Ramaker library room in<br />
which the Classic was housed.<br />
On another occasion, work-study<br />
students sent to Omaha to pick<br />
up the computer after it had been<br />
repaired dropped it while loading<br />
it into a college van.<br />
Bakker is also correct in recalling<br />
the “skepticism of many faculty and<br />
staff.” One of the most skeptical<br />
was a member of the English<br />
department, who later discovered<br />
the marvels of word processing<br />
and became one of the computer’s<br />
greatest advocates on campus.<br />
The Classic wasn’t much by<br />
today’s standards, but in 1976 I<br />
thought it was a real gem.<br />
Dr. Peter Hansen<br />
Professor Emeritus of Chemistry<br />
Iowa City, Iowa<br />
Wowed by the Web<br />
I love the new Classic website.<br />
Fantastic work! Keep up the great<br />
job you do for the college. It is a<br />
service that impacts thousands of<br />
people worldwide.<br />
Matt Austin ’05<br />
Hesperia, Calif.<br />
WE LOVE GETTING MAIL<br />
Send letters to: Classic,<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> <strong>College</strong>, 101 7th<br />
Street SW, Orange City, IA 51041;<br />
e-mail: classic@nwciowa.edu;<br />
fax: 712-707-7370. letters may<br />
be edited for length and clarity.<br />
Please include an address and<br />
daytime phone number.<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 3
around the Green<br />
Rockin’ the Rankings<br />
The <strong>2008</strong>–09 academic year started with<br />
impressive recognition for <strong>Northwestern</strong>.<br />
U.S. News & World Report ranked <strong>Northwestern</strong><br />
fourth among 100 Midwestern colleges—the<br />
highest-ranking Iowa college in its category. The<br />
placement was based on<br />
key measures of quality,<br />
such as <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s<br />
academic reputation,<br />
freshman retention<br />
and graduation rates,<br />
professors’ credentials and<br />
availability to students,<br />
and the college’s financial<br />
soundness and support<br />
by alumni donors.<br />
Forbes.com included<br />
NWC among the<br />
top 15 percent of the<br />
nation’s colleges and universities. Forbes’ recognition,<br />
which ranked 569 institutions based on the quality of<br />
education they provide and how much their students<br />
achieve, listed <strong>Northwestern</strong> at 211.<br />
Only 14 Iowa colleges and universities were<br />
selected for the Forbes.com ranking: Cornell <strong>College</strong><br />
(71), Clarke (90), Grinnell (107), Coe (182), luther<br />
(188), NWC (211), Simpson (241), Iowa (331),<br />
Dordt (374), Wartburg (430), Northern Iowa (472),<br />
Drake (486), Central (554) and Iowa State (563).<br />
Princeton Review.com listed <strong>Northwestern</strong> among<br />
160 institutions selected for its “Best in the Midwest”<br />
designation, based on student opinion. In the survey,<br />
NWC students described the college as “exactly<br />
like they say it is during college visits, maybe even<br />
better.” They also praised <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s affordability,<br />
community life, leadership and attitudes toward<br />
diversity.<br />
Safe and Secure<br />
A new campus-wide desktop<br />
security notification system has been<br />
launched to inform students, faculty<br />
and staff of campus emergencies and<br />
severe weather warnings. NWC<br />
Alert places a text crawl or flashing<br />
alert on computers, providing information<br />
about the situation and<br />
actions that should be taken.<br />
“Security is a very serious issue,<br />
and we are pleased to have NWC<br />
Alert as one tool to help notify<br />
students and staff in an efficient<br />
manner,” says Perry Krosschell,<br />
director of campus safety and security.<br />
In addition to providing instant<br />
alerts, the system also offers users<br />
access to current weather information<br />
such as local and national<br />
radar, as well as severe weather safety<br />
tips, phone numbers to call in case of<br />
an emergency, and campus news.<br />
Students, faculty and staff are<br />
required to install NWC Alert on<br />
their computers.<br />
JIm HEEmSTRA ’72<br />
Going Green<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> has been named a <strong>2008</strong> Groundwater Guardian Green Site by The Groundwater Foundation<br />
in recognition of the college’s groundwater and environmental stewardship. The first Iowa college and only the<br />
second college nationwide to earn this designation, NWC was lauded for practices related to water use, pesticide<br />
and fertilizer management, and pollution prevention.<br />
Work at<br />
NWC<br />
Ever thought you’d like a job at<br />
your alma mater? We have the<br />
following opening:<br />
FaCulty<br />
Theatre Design/Technical Director<br />
Find out more at<br />
www.nwciowa.edu/employment<br />
4<br />
FAll <strong>2008</strong>
AROUND THE GREEN<br />
Real to Reel<br />
Critics call it: “Cool.” “Creative.” “Awesome.” “Amazing.” “Wickedly brilliant.”<br />
“So hilarious I had to show my brothers.”<br />
From Michelle’s no-holds-barred admission, “The first couple of weeks of school<br />
kicked my butt,” to Jesse’s footage of men in metal, Real.<strong>Northwestern</strong>. tells the<br />
unrated truth about <strong>Northwestern</strong> <strong>College</strong>.<br />
Go in the classrooms and the bathrooms. Find out what NWC students really think<br />
about their profs, writing papers, discipleship and dorm life. Watch Real.<strong>Northwestern</strong>.<br />
on YouTube or <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s website: www.nwciowa.edu/realnorthwestern.<br />
Real.<strong>Northwestern</strong>. was produced by<br />
Passenger Productions, founded<br />
by Joe Hubers ’03.<br />
New at <strong>Northwestern</strong><br />
Two new directors began their<br />
positions this summer.<br />
Patrick Hummel joined <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s<br />
staff as director of residence<br />
life after seven years at Calvin <strong>College</strong>,<br />
where he served most recently as<br />
assistant dean of residence life. A<br />
graduate of Taylor University, Hummel<br />
earned a Master of Divinity degree from<br />
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.<br />
He replaces Eric Anderson, who is<br />
a financial planner for Van Rooyen<br />
Financial Group in Orange City.<br />
Tom Truesdell ’01 is <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s<br />
new director of academic support. The<br />
college’s writing center coordinator last<br />
year, he previously<br />
worked as a writing<br />
center specialist at<br />
the <strong>College</strong> of lake<br />
County in Grayslake,<br />
Ill., and earned a<br />
master’s degree in<br />
writing from DePaul<br />
University. He<br />
replaces Patti Thayer,<br />
who retired in May.<br />
Patrick Hummel<br />
Tom Truesdell<br />
Double Play<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> baseball players<br />
and coaches held a baseball camp<br />
and did work projects during an<br />
11-day service project in Romania<br />
and Moldova in August.<br />
Working with For God’s<br />
Children International (FGCI), a<br />
Senior Jake Jansen was among the<br />
Raiders who developed relationships with<br />
Moldovan baseball campers.<br />
ministry based in Council Bluffs,<br />
Iowa, the NWC contingent<br />
conducted a camp in Nisporeni,<br />
Moldova, for 30 kids ages 10-18.<br />
After each session, the Red Raider<br />
players taught a character lesson<br />
based on an event from the Bible.<br />
The group also painted and<br />
did a variety of other projects on<br />
the FGCI property.<br />
“This trip was a great opportunity<br />
for our guys to obey God’s<br />
call to love your neighbor as<br />
yourself,” Coach Brian Wede<br />
says. “We had the opportunity to<br />
reach out and spread the love God<br />
has given us.”<br />
Raider<br />
Rewind<br />
Relive your gridiron glory with the purchase<br />
of digital-format film of games from 1960 to<br />
the present. Request a specific game or games<br />
($25 for a DVD with 2 to 4 games) or a whole<br />
season ($50).<br />
Contact Karen in the athletic office,<br />
712-707-7280 or karen@nwciowa.edu, for a<br />
list of available games or to place an order.<br />
Proceeds support the Red Raider Club.<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 5
AROUND THE GREEN<br />
To Learn More<br />
Get ready for the election by<br />
visiting these websites:<br />
• Project Vote Smart<br />
(www.votesmart.org)<br />
• Federal Voting Assistance<br />
Program (www.fvap.gov)<br />
• League of Women Voters<br />
(www.lwv.org)<br />
• The U.S. Congress Votes<br />
Database (http://projects.<br />
washingtonpost.com/congress/)<br />
Of Course<br />
Getting Out the Vote<br />
Class<br />
Electoral Politics Field Experience<br />
Instructor<br />
Dr. Jeff VanDerWerff<br />
Associate Professor of Political Science<br />
Stuffing<br />
S<br />
envelopes, canvassing neighborhoods, calling<br />
voters. It’s part of every election—and of an eight-week<br />
political science course offered every election year.<br />
Involvement in a political campaign is the foundational<br />
requirement of Electoral Politics Field Experience. Dr. Jeff<br />
VanDerWerff, who teaches the class, believes such experience is the<br />
antidote to both hardened cynicism and naïve idealism.<br />
“Ultimately, I’d like students to be more realistic in their sense<br />
of how they can make a difference,” he says. “It’s better to get<br />
inoculated now with a healthy dose of reality. That will give them<br />
better staying power for the long haul.”<br />
He also wants his students to think about what their faith has to<br />
say about public life. Is one’s faith just a personal matter? Does it<br />
only involve being ethical, or should being a Christian impact how<br />
one conducts a campaign?<br />
And if it does, is it still possible to win?<br />
Students explore those questions throughout the course. They’re<br />
exposed to partisanship through their work on a campaign. They<br />
get an insider’s look at what it’s like to run for Congress in “The<br />
Political Education of Maggie lauterer,” part of the critically<br />
acclaimed PBS series Vote for Me: Politics in America. And they’re<br />
challenged to consider a different kind of leadership by author<br />
Henri Nouwen—one based on Jesus’ example of leader as servant.<br />
Texts and Assignments<br />
• The Vanishing Voter: Public Involvement in an Age of<br />
Uncertainty, by Thomas Patterson<br />
• In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership, by<br />
Henri Nouwen<br />
In addition to reading Patterson’s and Nouwen’s books, students<br />
volunteer a minimum of 25 hours for a political campaign. (The<br />
students enrolled in the course are working for Barack Obama, Iowa<br />
State Senate candidate Randy Feenstra, and U.S. Congressman<br />
Steve King.) They also write a paper that summarizes their<br />
campaign experience, discusses the electoral process, and reflects<br />
on the relevance of the texts—and this year, organized a debate<br />
between the Campus Democrats and the <strong>College</strong> Republicans.<br />
On Board<br />
The latest person to join<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong>’s Board of Trustees<br />
is Wayne Van Heuvelen ’74.<br />
President of Horizon Consulting<br />
and Investment Services in<br />
Urbandale, Iowa, since 1995, he<br />
previously served as a bank vice<br />
president.<br />
Van Heuvelen was named<br />
Urbandale’s 2006 Citizen of the<br />
Year for his many volunteer efforts<br />
in city, school and youth athletic<br />
activities. He is a member of<br />
Meredith Drive Reformed Church<br />
in Des Moines and the treasurer of<br />
the RCA’s Classis of Central Iowa.<br />
He and his wife, Priscilla, are<br />
the parents of two children: Matt<br />
’07 and Melissa Carrington ’09.<br />
Wayne Van Heuvelen<br />
Alumni Search<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> is searching for a new<br />
director of alumni relations. Rachel Van Den<br />
Broek ’02 left the post this summer to move<br />
to the Des Moines area, citing a desire to be<br />
closer to family. She is an enrollment counselor<br />
for William Penn University’s <strong>College</strong><br />
for Working Adults.<br />
6<br />
FAll <strong>2008</strong>
AROUND THE GREEN<br />
Face Value<br />
Gary Jeltema<br />
Patient problem-solver<br />
What do you enjoy about your work?<br />
The variety of tasks. In the maintenance<br />
department, planning a workday is difficult<br />
because emergencies arise and we must respond.<br />
I like having a job that involves solving<br />
problems for other people.<br />
No Butts<br />
long a smoke-free campus,<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> <strong>College</strong> is even<br />
more so thanks to the Iowa<br />
Smokefree Air Act. The new<br />
law, which went into effect July<br />
1, prohibits smoking in public<br />
places, places of employment and<br />
certain outdoor areas.<br />
For <strong>Northwestern</strong>, the<br />
legislation means that now more<br />
than just the college’s buildings<br />
are smoke-free. By law, smoking<br />
is no longer allowed anywhere on<br />
campus, including athletic fields,<br />
outside of buildings, parking<br />
lots—or in any vehicle on a<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> parking lot.<br />
“The goal was to protect<br />
employees in their place of work<br />
from second-hand smoke,” says<br />
Doug Beukelman, vice president<br />
for financial affairs.<br />
The law makes a visible<br />
difference on <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s<br />
campus: Students who smoke<br />
no longer light up in front of<br />
Heemstra Hall, and as required<br />
by law, “no smoking” signs—more<br />
than 300 in all—now adorn every<br />
entrance to campus and the doors<br />
into each building.<br />
Can you recall an example of a maintenance<br />
emergency?<br />
Years ago, I responded to a 2 a.m. call<br />
about overflowing urinals in Colenbrander. By<br />
the time I arrived, water was running down<br />
the hall. Once repairs were made, students<br />
were very helpful with the cleanup.<br />
Why do you appreciate working at NWC?<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> is more than just a great place<br />
to work—it’s a family. In December 2005, one<br />
of our daughters, Heidi Altena ’98, passed<br />
away from a heart problem. My family was<br />
overwhelmed by the love and support from the<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> community.<br />
Is there a busy season for the maintenance<br />
staff?<br />
Summertime. Projects that can’t be<br />
completed during the school year are done in<br />
June or July. All repairs and cleaning must be<br />
completed by Aug. 1, as well as yearly fire alarm<br />
and sprinkler system checks. Although summer<br />
is busy, I love this season because the staff and<br />
work-study students gather for devotions at 7<br />
a.m. I think students who spend a summer with<br />
us gain a new perspective of the maintenance<br />
department.<br />
DOug BuRg<br />
As <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s supervisor of mechanical<br />
services, Gary Jeltema leads a three-man staff that<br />
maintains more than 35 boilers and air handling<br />
units, as well as 22 hot water heaters.<br />
Any interesting stories?<br />
I once responded to a call about an electrical<br />
problem in one of the women’s cottages. I traced<br />
the faulty wire to the basement, where I knocked<br />
on a door, identified myself and waited. After<br />
the student let me in, my search for the wire led<br />
to a closet. To my surprise, I discovered a young<br />
man in there. With a startled look, he quickly<br />
asked the female resident which sweater he could<br />
borrow, grabbed one and fled. The funny thing is<br />
it was over 80 degrees outside.<br />
What are your hobbies?<br />
I enjoy watching sports—especially volleyball,<br />
since two of my daughters played volleyball at<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong>. I’ve also been a member of the<br />
Orange City Fire Department for 30 years.<br />
If you’d like to see a particular <strong>Northwestern</strong> faculty<br />
or staff member featured in Face Value, e-mail<br />
classic@nwciowa.edu.<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 7
AROUND THE GREEN<br />
ANITA CIRulIS<br />
Sprucing Up<br />
More park benches, trees and shrubs now grace <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s<br />
campus, thanks to landscaping improvements completed this summer.<br />
The college’s maintenance department worked with a local contractor<br />
on the design and implementation of the landscaping. A paved area with<br />
benches was added to the north side of Van Peursem Hall. On the east<br />
side, flowering plants fill an edged bed bordered on one side by a low<br />
retaining wall. In front of the bed, a seating area is composed of chair-sized<br />
boulders arranged in a paved patio.<br />
landscaping around the DeWitt Center introduced more plants,<br />
another paved seating area with benches, and several rock formations—<br />
one with a water feature in the form of a bubbling fountain.<br />
Funding for the landscaping improvements came through a restricted<br />
gift from leonard and Marjorie Maas of Holland, Mich.<br />
Number Crunch<br />
like many private colleges in today’s economy, <strong>Northwestern</strong><br />
experienced a drop in enrollment this <strong>fall</strong>. A total of 1,225 students are<br />
attending classes, compared to 1,315 in 2007.<br />
In response, college administrators are evaluating the effectiveness of<br />
current admissions strategies and exploring new ways to recruit students.<br />
Counselors are expanding their efforts to reach high school students<br />
through digital marketing, launching an admissions Facebook webpage,<br />
and posting the college’s new promotional video on YouTube.<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> is also encouraging alumni to boost the college’s<br />
recruitment efforts by giving Red Recruiter Scholarships to teens in their<br />
communities (see the Classic’s inside back cover for details).<br />
Cooperative agreements are being developed with community<br />
colleges—including Western Iowa Tech in Sioux City—in response to<br />
research that shows more students are starting at two-year colleges.<br />
In addition, the <strong>Northwestern</strong> Tuition Guarantee will be optional in<br />
2009.<br />
The guarantee locks in tuition, room and board costs while students<br />
earn their degrees. By averaging anticipated costs during a four-year<br />
period, the guarantee helps families plan for their long-term college<br />
expenses. Because the guaranteed cost is based on averages, however,<br />
initial-year expenses are higher than they would be under a traditional<br />
pricing structure that includes unpredictable tuition increases.<br />
“The guarantee tested well with parents when we researched the<br />
program before the current economic downturn,” says Ron De Jong, vice<br />
president for external relations. “But while the benefits are clear, in reality,<br />
families right now are focused on paying for college one year at a time.”<br />
RSC Design<br />
Award Winning<br />
The renovated Rowenhorst Student<br />
Center raked in design awards over the<br />
summer. Among them, the project was<br />
named the only citation winner in the<br />
modernization category of the American<br />
School & University Architectural Portfolio.<br />
“The design team used one simple gesture to achieve<br />
many things. This building gives hope to campuses<br />
that there is an opportunity for regeneration.”<br />
Jury member, Architectural Portfolio<br />
Honors<br />
• American School & University Architectural<br />
Portfolio, Citation<br />
• American School & University Educational<br />
Interiors Showcase, Outstanding Design<br />
• School Planning & Management and <strong>College</strong><br />
Planning & Management’s Education<br />
Design Showcase, Honorable Mention<br />
• Featured in Design Cost Data<br />
magazine’s May-June <strong>2008</strong> issue<br />
PAul BROKERINg<br />
8<br />
FAll <strong>2008</strong>
AROUND THE GREEN<br />
New in the<br />
Classroom<br />
Ethan Koerner<br />
Instructor in Theatre Arts<br />
M.A. in theatre, Bowling Green<br />
State University<br />
Seven new full-time faculty are<br />
teaching at <strong>Northwestern</strong> this <strong>fall</strong>.<br />
They include:<br />
Koerner is serving a one-year appointment<br />
as technical director and scenic designer.<br />
Experienced in designing sets for both main<br />
Kathy Coyle<br />
Instructor in Nursing<br />
M.S.N., Creighton University<br />
A family nurse practitioner, Coyle joins<br />
the faculty after having taught at Briar<br />
Cliff University for the last four years. She<br />
also works part time in the home health<br />
Kathy Coyle<br />
Ethan Koerner<br />
stage and independent productions, he<br />
received a technical apprentice award for<br />
his work at the Santa Fe Opera.<br />
Valerie Stokes ’93<br />
Assistant Professor of Social Work<br />
M.S.W., University of Nebraska-<br />
Omaha<br />
department at Mercy Medical Center in<br />
Stokes previously directed The Bridge, a<br />
Sioux City.<br />
transitional housing agency in Orange City,<br />
Julie Dragstra<br />
Instructor in Nursing<br />
M.A. in nursing, Augustana <strong>College</strong><br />
Dragstra, a nurse at Avera McKennan Hospital<br />
in Sioux Falls for the last 23 years, most<br />
recently worked in the hospice area. She also<br />
worked at Sioux Center Community Hospital.<br />
Dr. Ranjan George<br />
Assistant Professor of Business<br />
Ph.D. in management, University of<br />
Western Sydney<br />
Dr. George is serving a one-year appointment<br />
while on sabbatical from The Open University<br />
of Sri Lanka, where he is the senior lecturer in<br />
management studies. He teaches marketing<br />
Julie Dragstra<br />
Valerie Stokes<br />
and spent seven years as a therapist at<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong>. She is a Ph.D. candidate in<br />
educational psychology at the University of<br />
South Dakota.<br />
Maria Van Der Maaten<br />
’05<br />
Instructor in Spanish<br />
M.A. in international development,<br />
University of Denver<br />
Van Der Maaten is serving a one-year<br />
appointment after working for Sister Parish<br />
Inc., a nonprofit that links U.S. churches<br />
with churches in Guatemala and El Salvador<br />
to foster mutual understanding and a<br />
commitment to peace and justice.<br />
and management courses.<br />
Ranjan George<br />
Maria Van Der Maaten<br />
Ray Gibler<br />
Assistant Professor of Accounting<br />
M.Acc., Washington State University<br />
A CPA, Gibler has extensive accounting<br />
experience at public accounting firms and<br />
a property management company in the<br />
Pacific Northwest. He also taught at a<br />
post-secondary Bible school and worked in<br />
accounting and administration for Mexican<br />
Mission Ministries.<br />
Ray Gibler<br />
Make it a Red<br />
Christmas<br />
Show your loyalty as you<br />
give gifts this Christmas.<br />
Shop the <strong>Northwestern</strong><br />
Bookstore’s website.<br />
bookstore.nwciowa.edu<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 9
1,000 WORDS<br />
S eet<br />
On the Web exclusive<br />
Submit photos of your sweet little<br />
trick-or-treaters at classic.nwciowa.edu<br />
10
1,000 WORDS<br />
Every October,<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong><br />
students dress up<br />
to welcome chubby-cheeked bears,<br />
fairies, robots and butterflies into<br />
the residence halls, accompanied<br />
by their parents (who are poorly<br />
costumed as college personnel). It’s<br />
a charming tradition—students<br />
sharing treats with their teachers’<br />
toddlers. Or maybe it’s sweet<br />
revenge—plying professors’<br />
progeny with enough sugar to turn<br />
them into little monsters.<br />
Photos by Doug Burg<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 11
New students talk about missing mom,<br />
forgetting necessities and more<br />
George Bush was in the White House when most<br />
of <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s 300 new freshmen were born<br />
in 1990—George Sr., that is. This <strong>fall</strong> they’ll “Rock<br />
the Vote” in their first presidential<br />
election. But first they participated in<br />
another rite of passage: leaving home<br />
for college. Classic staff asked how the<br />
transition is going.<br />
Classic: What is the most important thing you brought with you<br />
to college?<br />
“I brought my new<br />
acoustic-electric<br />
guitar—it was an<br />
amazing deal!”<br />
Alissa Abeler, Coon Rapids, Minn.<br />
Pictures of family, friends and girlfriend/boyfriend 40%<br />
Music (iPod, piano music, guitar) 16%<br />
Computer, laptop 13%<br />
Teddy bear, blankie 9%<br />
Pillow 7%<br />
Bible 6%<br />
Cell phone 6%<br />
Media, electronics (radio, TV/DVD, Xbox 360) 4%<br />
An open mind 3%<br />
A special poster 3%<br />
My sister (who’s a junior) 1%<br />
A world map 1%<br />
“I can’t imagine coming to college without my Joe Jonas poster.”<br />
Ashley Christians, George, Iowa<br />
“My blanket is pretty important. I got it when I was 5 and still<br />
sleep with it all the time.” Angela Petrie, Cedar Rapids, Iowa<br />
“As cheesy as it sounds, I think the most important thing I<br />
brought to college is a good attitude and an eagerness to get to<br />
know all these new people I’m encountering.” Aaron Bauer,<br />
Frost, Minn.<br />
12<br />
FALL <strong>2008</strong>
Classic: What from home are you missing the most?<br />
Family 40%<br />
Mom’s cooking and free food and laundry 20%<br />
Friends 17%<br />
My own room and familiar bed 10%<br />
Familiar landscapes and landmarks 7%<br />
Pets 7%<br />
Air conditioning 2%<br />
Cable TV 2%<br />
Clean bathroom and warm shower 2%<br />
Use of parents’ car 2%<br />
“I miss the mountains.” David Johnson, Yreka, Calif.<br />
“I miss my dog Panther—he’s my best friend and cuddle-buddy<br />
during storms.” Becca Smidt, Kanawha, Iowa<br />
“I’m from Arizona; I miss Mexican food.” Collin Johnson,<br />
Tucson, Ariz.<br />
“Ever since my brothers and I could walk, it seems, we’ve all<br />
been involved in lots of different activities that keep us really<br />
busy. But each evening at suppertime, we’d all sit at the table<br />
as a family and talk and laugh about the adventures of the day.<br />
I miss that.” Kristen Menchaca, Columbus, Neb.<br />
Classic: What’s on your list of things you wish you’d brought?<br />
P Air conditioner<br />
P Bike<br />
P Blankie<br />
P Bookends to keep my textbooks<br />
from <strong>fall</strong>ing off my shelves<br />
P Bowl, spoon and fork<br />
P Car<br />
P Chair<br />
P More clothes<br />
P Room decorations<br />
P Fan<br />
P More food<br />
P Light for my bed so I can read<br />
when my roommate’s asleep<br />
P Printer for my computer<br />
P The remote for my DVD player<br />
P My retainer<br />
P My robe!<br />
P Robot to read all my assignments<br />
P More pairs of shoes<br />
P More pictures<br />
P My Social Security<br />
card<br />
P Storage boxes<br />
P Towels<br />
P Bigger trash can<br />
P TV—I missed the end of the Olympics!<br />
P Winter coat—I’m sure I’ll wish I’d brought one.<br />
Classic: What’s the best advice you got about starting college?<br />
“Never change who you truly are just to fit in.” Lisa Walters,<br />
Zeeland, Mich.<br />
“Study your buns off!” Amber Taylor, Sioux Falls, S.D.<br />
“Get to know people with allergies, because they get to have air<br />
conditioners.” Matt Negaard, Sioux City, Iowa<br />
“Check your oil and tire pressure because Dad won’t be<br />
doing it anymore.” Anna Cloeter, Lincoln, Neb.<br />
“Come home often—but not too often.” Erica Graber,<br />
Marion, S.D.<br />
“My sister told me college is scary at first, and you feel out of<br />
your comfort zone. But now that she’s a senior, she’s so<br />
excited to return to college and see all her friends. I hope<br />
that happens for me too.” Jenna Van Oort, Orange City<br />
“Get organized and don’t procrastinate.” Jacklyn Brooks,<br />
Sioux Falls, S.D.<br />
“Enjoy it because it’s the time of your life.” Courtney Goeldner,<br />
Clive, Iowa<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic<br />
13
When winds became too strong to continue a card game with<br />
fellow campers, junior Carrie Manifold and her family<br />
thought they’d check in with neighbors back home in<br />
Parkersburg, Iowa, 20 miles west, to see if the storm had passed their<br />
way.<br />
Carrie’s mom, Diane, dialed the number and heard screaming. Their<br />
friends were trapped in the basement by what was left of their house,<br />
they told her. Through a window, this frightened family could see a<br />
neighbor lying on the ground where her home used to be.<br />
Between 4:45 and 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 25, an EF5 tornado with<br />
winds at an estimated 205 mph devastated northeast Iowa, taking the<br />
lives of eight people and injuring 70 others. The storm blew away a third<br />
of Parkersburg’s buildings, 350 in all. When Carrie’s father, Tom, the<br />
city’s chief EMT and a gas/electric serviceman, got in the car to head<br />
back, he didn’t know if his house would be among those destroyed.<br />
He reached the site of his home of 24 years to find only a wall and<br />
part of a staircase sitting on an open foundation.<br />
But right where the garage had been, Tom’s work boots were waiting.<br />
Taking no time to dwell on his own loss, he changed out of his camping<br />
sandals and began helping everyone else.<br />
Lost and Found<br />
“I’d never seen something so terrible in my life,” says Tom, well<br />
acquainted with the “before” picture of the small town of 1,900 people.<br />
“It looked like someone had come through there with fighter jets and<br />
dropped bombs.”<br />
Amidst all the wreckage, the Manifolds prayed they’d find a small<br />
blue booklet. Carrie was scheduled to leave for a <strong>Northwestern</strong> Summer<br />
of Service trip to Bahrain in just four days. How would she ever find her<br />
passport?<br />
Relief comes to student’s family<br />
after Parkersburg tornado<br />
BY AMY SCHEER<br />
AP PHOTO/KEVIN SANDERS<br />
“I’d never seen<br />
something so<br />
terrible in my life.<br />
It looked like<br />
someone had come<br />
through there with<br />
fighter jets and<br />
dropped bombs.”<br />
14<br />
<strong>fall</strong> <strong>2008</strong>
neighbor would wash the pile for Carrie to pack.<br />
It appears God wanted Carrie to go to Bahrain.<br />
“My passport could have been in a cornfield or all the way in<br />
Wisconsin,” she says. “God took the trip out of my hands. He would<br />
provide not only what I needed, but he would also pile on the blessings.”<br />
Ashley Wright '11<br />
Senior Nick Adams helps clean out the Manifolds’ basement during the NWC service<br />
project in Parkersburg.<br />
She called Tommy Moon, <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s director of missions, who<br />
acted quickly to delay Carrie’s departure date and prepared to replace<br />
necessary paperwork. A day or two later, good news came.<br />
Although Carrie’s car was found upside down on top of a house<br />
down the block, her passport and an encouragement journal from friends<br />
sat intact under a <strong>fall</strong>en wall. Pairs of neatly folded pants, which had<br />
been left on the bed next to the passport, flew only a short distance; a<br />
Helping Hands<br />
Meanwhile, Moon worked with Marlon Haverdink, the college’s<br />
director of service learning, and Barb Dewald, associate dean of spiritual<br />
formation, to send a <strong>Northwestern</strong> service team to aid relief efforts in<br />
Parkersburg.<br />
On Friday, June 13, when they got word the Manifolds were ready<br />
to receive outside help, they e-mailed faculty, staff and students. By<br />
Monday, 24 people had volunteered to go.<br />
The <strong>Northwestern</strong> group arrived on June 22 and registered with<br />
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, requesting to work on<br />
the Manifolds’ property. Members of the team helped clear the house’s<br />
foundation of debris and gutted the basement, successfully finishing the<br />
job before leaving three days later. Some group members worked at a half<br />
dozen other sites as well, aiding in flood recovery or skill-specific jobs.<br />
(Bruce Roetman, a member of the maintenance staff, found his carpentry<br />
skills in high demand.)<br />
The Manifolds’ church, First Congregational, housed and fed the<br />
team.<br />
“We’re having to allow everyone to help us, so I wanted to do<br />
something to help them,” says Diane. “They’ve done so much for us.<br />
From day one, as soon as Carrie called, all the help <strong>Northwestern</strong> offered,<br />
the prayers, the support—it meant so much to us.”<br />
Ashley Wright, a <strong>Northwestern</strong> sophomore on the trip, left<br />
impressed with the hope and joy of the people of Parkersburg. “Their<br />
attitude was, ‘It’s just stuff. We can replace it. We’re just thankful to be<br />
alive.’”<br />
It got her to thinking: “I have all this stuff in my room. It’s a chaotic<br />
place, and it’s just stuff. If it got lost in a tornado, I’d be OK. Does that<br />
make me who I am, all this stuff?”<br />
Not All Gone<br />
By August, Carrie was back from Bahrain, and her mother and<br />
father had moved from their hotel room to a rental house. They’ve told<br />
their story to many people along the way.<br />
“People would ask us if we lost everything, and we’d say, ‘Yeah, we<br />
lost everything,’” says Diane.<br />
But in time they changed that answer, realizing they were<br />
overwhelmed with gratitude for what the storm left behind.<br />
“We lost our house and all our stuff, but we didn’t lose everything,”<br />
they’d respond. “We have our family, and we have our friends.”<br />
On the Web exclusive<br />
Submit your photos/story from this<br />
summer’s floods and tornadoes at<br />
classic.nwciowa.edu<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 15
According to the reams and streams of <strong>2008</strong><br />
election coverage, Republican presidential<br />
candidate John McCain says prayer sustained<br />
him as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. An unbaptized<br />
Baptist, he acknowledges his church<br />
attendance is at times spotty. Barack Obama, the<br />
Democratic nominee, was forced to defend his<br />
faith, calling it “both a personal commitment to<br />
Christ and a commitment to my community,”<br />
after inflammatory rhetoric by his pastor hit<br />
YouTube.<br />
Senator Joe Biden is a devout Catholic, and<br />
Governor Sarah Palin,<br />
Faith in the<br />
a committed Protestant.<br />
Both have had their<br />
Christian convictions<br />
praised—and called into<br />
question—by fellow<br />
believers.<br />
These and other stories about the candidates’<br />
faith, values, ethics and morals have resulted in<br />
religion being a large part of the commentary<br />
around the <strong>2008</strong> election. Has it always been like<br />
this?<br />
The Classic asked religion and politics expert<br />
Corwin Smidt ’68 to explain some of the history<br />
of the relationship between faith and citizenship,<br />
especially when the convictions of both<br />
accompany us into the voting booth. His essay<br />
may also help readers answer the question:<br />
Why don’t all Christians vote the way I do?<br />
FALL <strong>2008</strong>
The separation of church and state: Certainly.<br />
The separation of religion and politics: Impossible.<br />
Religion and politics are intertwined in such a way that no strict<br />
separation of church and state can ever disentangle the two.<br />
According to our Constitution, there cannot be religious tests for<br />
holding public office. Churches are not to be financially supported by the<br />
state, and the state can’t dictate membership in a religious denomination<br />
or congregation. These constitutional laws can be strictly enforced.<br />
But no strict enforcement of a separation of church and state can<br />
prevent people from entering a voting booth and pulling the lever<br />
according to their religious beliefs, identity or affiliations.<br />
Belief in America<br />
Americans have long been recognized as being highly religious.<br />
When the religious beliefs and practices of Americans are compared<br />
the U.S. is a multifaceted and complicated phenomenon. And as people’s<br />
patterns of religious beliefs, belonging and behavior change, so does the<br />
way in which religion and politics are linked in our country.<br />
Historically, the main way in which religion affected politics has<br />
been through religious affiliation. During the American Revolution,<br />
Baptists and Presbyterians were mostly strong supporters of<br />
independence, while Anglicans (Church of England) were more likely<br />
opposed. As immigrants came to American shores, they also sorted<br />
themselves out politically: German immigrants who were Roman<br />
Catholics tended to align with the Democratic Party, while Germans<br />
who were Lutherans aligned with the Republican Party.<br />
Following the Great Depression, religious groups still tended to align<br />
differently. Most Northern “mainline” Protestants were Republicans,<br />
while most Southern evangelical Protestants, Catholics and Jews were<br />
Democrats.<br />
Voting Booth<br />
with people from countries industrially and culturally similar to ours, the<br />
distinctive quality of American religious life is particularly evident.<br />
This religious character of the American people has important<br />
consequences politically. For many Americans, religion is the foundation<br />
of our basic beliefs and values—even our identity. Religion shapes our<br />
pattern of social interaction, influencing our decisions about those with<br />
whom we talk politics. It also affects where and how we get information<br />
for making political decisions—including voting.<br />
Americans’ religious character also shapes our expectations about<br />
the kind of presidential candidate we think is worthy of consideration.<br />
Surveys reveal Americans want our president to be religious and, by<br />
extension, our presidential candidates to be people of faith.<br />
The specific nature of that religious faith is less important than<br />
the need to have some kind of faith. National surveys have consistently<br />
revealed—both before and after 9/11—that Americans are more willing<br />
to vote for a Muslim than an atheist. Similarly, most Americans welcome<br />
presidential candidates who talk about their faith and share the ways<br />
in which their religious views may guide their political thinking and<br />
policymaking.<br />
Since the founding of the United States, religion has played an<br />
important role in American political and electoral life. But religion in<br />
An “ethnoreligious” link between religion and politics basically<br />
prevailed from the early years of the republic through at least the early<br />
1980s. The different lifestyles and worldviews of people of different<br />
faiths determined what political party—and governmental policies—they<br />
preferred. And with highly religious groups on both sides of the partisan<br />
divide, of course, highly religious individuals could be found on both<br />
sides too.<br />
The God Gap<br />
Increasingly, Americans are seeing a new interplay of religion and<br />
politics. Now, it appears, people’s religious beliefs, rather than their<br />
religious group affiliations, are largely shaping the way in which religion<br />
influences political thought and action.<br />
Instead of our membership in a particular group determining our<br />
political loyalties, they are more determined by individuals’ religious<br />
perspective as it relates to “traditionalist/modernist” positions and the<br />
conflicting worldviews that underlie them.<br />
Religious beliefs and behaviors align religious traditionalists on<br />
one side of the partisan divide and secularists and modernists on the<br />
other. The result is a “God gap” in American politics, and one’s religious<br />
affiliation is much less relevant.<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 17
Professor of political science and<br />
director of the Henry Institute at<br />
Calvin <strong>College</strong>, Dr. Corwin Smidt<br />
’68 has served as an investigator for<br />
five national surveys on religion and<br />
politics conducted during presidential<br />
elections. Author or editor of 12<br />
books, including Pews, Prayers and<br />
Participation: The Role of Religion<br />
in Fostering Civic Responsibility<br />
(Georgetown University Press), he<br />
is currently co-editing the Oxford<br />
Handbook on Religion and American<br />
Politics (Oxford University Press).<br />
During the <strong>2008</strong> presidential campaign,<br />
he has been quoted in many national<br />
and international newspapers. Smidt<br />
received <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s Distinguished<br />
Professional Achievement Award<br />
in 1996.<br />
pAUL STOUB<br />
After the 2004 victory of Bush over Kerry, much was made of the<br />
religious divide in the election. Exit polls revealed that large numbers of<br />
voters said moral values were the most important issue of the campaign<br />
and that high percentages of those “values voters” voted for Bush. The<br />
mobilization efforts of conservative Christians, particularly in states with<br />
gay marriage initiatives on the ballot, received a lot of media coverage.<br />
But the election divide was perhaps best captured by the relationship<br />
between worship service attendance and candidate choice in 2004.<br />
As voters went to church more, they became less likely to vote for<br />
Democrats. And, following the election, a series of polls found that<br />
only a small minority of Americans thought the Democratic Party was<br />
“friendly to religion.”<br />
Americans continue to vote according to their religious tradition<br />
(affiliations); evangelical Protestants, for example, have become and<br />
largely remain heavily Republican. But now Americans also increasingly<br />
vote according to religious traditionalism (beliefs). These different<br />
means by which religion can impact political alignment are not mutually<br />
exclusive—religious tradition and traditionalism can both matter at the<br />
same time.<br />
What is unclear is what will happen next. Will the new order<br />
(beliefs) erase the old order (affiliations), or vice versa? Or will they<br />
continue to operate in conjunction with one another?<br />
One Nation … Indivisible?<br />
It’s likely the <strong>2008</strong> election will provide some answers to these<br />
questions. Various political changes over the past four years provide new<br />
opportunities for religious affiliations, rather than religious beliefs, to<br />
shape this election.<br />
For example, the presidential primary process has been marked, in<br />
part, by efforts of Democratic candidates to appeal to religious voters.<br />
The Christian Right is seemingly more fragmented, as old leaders such<br />
as Jerry Falwell and James Kennedy have passed from the scene. And the<br />
18<br />
FALL <strong>2008</strong>
COVER STORY<br />
ongoing conflict in Iraq, rising oil prices and a stagnant economy have<br />
largely replaced social issues like abortion and gay marriage as major<br />
campaign concerns.<br />
All of these changes suggest people of faith will be more likely<br />
to be found on both sides of the political divide following the <strong>2008</strong><br />
presidential election. On the other hand, if the <strong>2008</strong> election and its<br />
outcome resemble the 2004 presidential election, then it would suggest<br />
that the “God gap” has remained relatively strong and that it may replace<br />
the more group-based link between religion and politics in the United<br />
States.<br />
Whether the old affiliations-based order of religion and politics or<br />
the new beliefs-based order prevails is not simply a matter of academic<br />
curiosity. It has important consequences politically.<br />
Since Americans as a whole are fairly religious, if parties or<br />
candidates appear to be “anti-religious” in their position or policies,<br />
it is likely to be politically disadvantageous. But the consequences of<br />
this religious divide in American politics move far beyond the relative<br />
partisan advantages or disadvantages associated with it.<br />
When one party is perceived as the religious party and the other<br />
as the nonreligious, it magnifies the political stakes for many of those<br />
who take their faith seriously. Elections become almost a “holy battle”<br />
pitting good against evil—appearing to be a matter of ultimate, rather<br />
than relative, concern. Political debate becomes much more heated,<br />
relationships with those affiliated with the opposite party become much<br />
less civil, and political abuses are likely to occur as the ends begin to<br />
justify the means.<br />
As in the past, when Americans enter the voting booth in November,<br />
religion will likely shape the election’s outcome. Whether religious<br />
affiliations or religious beliefs will drive the relationship between religion<br />
and politics in the <strong>2008</strong> election remains to be seen. Nonetheless, the<br />
ways in which religion shapes politics will continue to have important<br />
implications for us as American citizens and Christians.<br />
The <strong>2008</strong> presidential campaign has brought a renewed enthusiasm<br />
to the electoral process.<br />
AP PHOTO/CHRIS CARlSON<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 19
For many Christians voting in the 2004 election, the primary<br />
moral issues were abortion and gay marriage. While these remain<br />
important issues, there is a growing recognition among Christians<br />
and other “values voters” that there are<br />
additional important moral issues that<br />
impact one’s politics.<br />
Increasingly, Christians are voicing<br />
concern about issues like poverty, social<br />
justice, global climate change, an ailing<br />
criminal justice system, health care, and<br />
quality education for all children.<br />
A Christian’s position on each of<br />
these issues is deeply informed by one’s<br />
values. A myth—which is thankfully<br />
dying—is that religious people want<br />
to bring their values into political<br />
discussions, while secularists are neutral.<br />
Not true!<br />
All human beings have value<br />
commitments informed by their<br />
worldview beliefs, whether they are<br />
religious or secular. Politicians do not<br />
check their values at the door when<br />
they enter the halls of Congress. So<br />
there is no compelling reason for<br />
keeping our expression of “religious<br />
values” in the private realm. Political<br />
discussion should be an even<br />
playing field, where all values can be<br />
expressed and considered.<br />
The expanded list of moral<br />
issues—and the recognition that all<br />
citizens have value commitments<br />
that inform their beliefs on<br />
these issues—is good news. But<br />
discussing these moral issues<br />
could be a nightmare if everyone,<br />
including Christians, decides to do<br />
politics as usual.<br />
Christians<br />
need a better<br />
way of voicing<br />
their political<br />
opinions<br />
BY HAROLD HEIE<br />
War of Words<br />
The current political system is broken. As I see it, the root problem<br />
is a “fixed-position” model for discussion—as seen in legislative debates<br />
and media coverage of those debates.<br />
In its starkest form, politicians on both sides of the aisle hold<br />
stubbornly to their party’s fixed position on an issue without any<br />
inclination to take even a small step toward the opposing position. The<br />
result is nasty verbal confrontation and the political gridlock so rampant<br />
today. Politicians model an unwillingness to listen to the contrary views<br />
of others. They refuse to be open to the possibility of learning from those<br />
with whom they disagree, with the goal of seeking common ground.<br />
Christians are easily prone to fixed-position discussions. In fact,<br />
Christians often amplify verbal confrontation in political discussion. We<br />
argue “I have the truth—so there.” We too easily play the Bible trump<br />
20 FAll <strong>2008</strong>
card, bringing political conversations to a halt with “Here is what the<br />
Bible says about [the issue at hand], and that settles it.”<br />
Of course, one’s position on an issue should be deeply informed by<br />
biblical understanding. But appealing to the Bible when talking with<br />
those who do not accept its authority will quickly end the conversation.<br />
Rather, Christians engaged in politics need to express their values in<br />
terms that are accessible and understandable to those who don’t share<br />
their faith. Only then is it possible to search for common ground.<br />
Listening, Learning, Loving<br />
Christians need to model a better way of political discussion about<br />
the many moral issues our nation faces. The better way is to engage in<br />
respectful conversation with those who disagree with you—whether<br />
they are fellow Christians, people committed to other religious faiths,<br />
or secularists. To be respectful partners in conversation—in politics and<br />
everywhere else, including our homes and churches—we should:<br />
n listen well, ensuring that each person feels welcome to<br />
express his or her perspective on the issue at hand.<br />
n Seek to understand different perspectives—religious or<br />
secular—by trying to understand the assumptions behind<br />
another’s views and the reasons for our differences.<br />
n Share our perspectives in a non-coercive way that invites<br />
further conversation with those who disagree.<br />
n Seek some common ground with those who disagree with us,<br />
while also trying to shed more light on our differences.<br />
n Demonstrate respect and concern for all participants in the<br />
conversation, even when significant common ground is hard<br />
to achieve due to irreconcilable differences in perspective.<br />
My suggestion that Christians model respectful conversation<br />
in discussion—political and otherwise—is deeply informed by my<br />
understanding of the Christian faith. It is an expression of humility, to<br />
which all Christians are called. As finite, <strong>fall</strong>ible human beings, we do<br />
not have a “God’s eye” view of the truth. As I Corinthians 13:12 reminds<br />
us, one aspect of the human condition is that “we see through a glass<br />
darkly.”<br />
Respectful conversation also expresses love for others, another<br />
Christian calling (Matthew 22:37–40). Christian love is not coercive. To<br />
genuinely love includes providing a welcoming space for people to freely<br />
express their beliefs and then respectfully discussing disagreements we<br />
may have, being open to the gift of learning from one another.<br />
By first listening and then responding respectfully to a person who<br />
disagrees with me, I will be able to present my Christian perspective on<br />
the issue at hand. At the same time, I will be loving the other person and<br />
opening the possibility for mutual learning.<br />
What I propose won’t be easy. It requires that Christians be<br />
characterized by what is a very rare combination these days: commitment<br />
and openness. Religious scholar and author Ian Barbour describes this<br />
rare synergy in his definition of “religious maturity”: “It is by no means<br />
easy to hold beliefs for which you would be willing to die, and yet to<br />
remain open to new insights; but it is precisely such a combination of<br />
commitment and inquiry that constitutes religious maturity.”<br />
This combination of commitment and openness is hard to find—in<br />
politics and everywhere else. Openness to the beliefs of others without<br />
commitment to your own too easily leads to relativism: You have your<br />
beliefs; I have mine—end of conversation. Commitment without<br />
openness too easily leads to fanaticism, even terrorism. As C.S. lewis<br />
observed—and to which recent world events tragically testify: “Those<br />
who are readiest to die for a cause may easily become those who are<br />
readiest to kill for it.”<br />
One of the most pressing needs in our world today is for human<br />
beings—Christians and all others—to embrace and live in the tension<br />
between commitment and openness. Christians committed to doing so<br />
in politics have the potential to be a significant redemptive influence.<br />
After earning a Ph.D. in mechanical and<br />
aerospace engineering, Harold Heie learned<br />
he loved to teach and served 40 years as a<br />
math professor and administrator at four<br />
Christian colleges, including <strong>Northwestern</strong>,<br />
where he was vice president for academic<br />
affairs from 1980 to 1988. A senior<br />
fellow at the Center for Christian Studies<br />
at Gordon <strong>College</strong> and the Council for<br />
Christian <strong>College</strong>s & Universities, Heie is<br />
the author of Learning to Listen, Ready to<br />
Talk: A Pilgrimage Toward Peacemaking<br />
(iUniverse 2007) and a co-editor of<br />
Christians Engaging Culture: A Better Way<br />
(Cascadia Publishing, forthcoming 2009).<br />
He lives in Orange City.<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic<br />
21
From the person who delivers your<br />
mail to the one willing to take a<br />
bullet for the president, the jobs of our<br />
nation’s civil servants are as varied as<br />
the people who fill them. Here are the<br />
stories of three <strong>Northwestern</strong> alumnae<br />
serving our country.<br />
BY ANITA CIRULIS<br />
JONATHAN lIu<br />
Laura Keith lives and works in Washington, D.C., where she helps conduct a roundtable series<br />
with foreign ambassadors to learn best practices for defeating terrorism.<br />
Fighting Terrorism<br />
As a 7-year-old, laura Keith sat transfixed in front of the TV,<br />
watching the <strong>fall</strong> of the Berlin Wall. As a young teenager, she would clip<br />
photos of world events from her local newspaper and tape them to her<br />
bedroom walls.<br />
Not surprisingly, Keith majored in political science and history<br />
at <strong>Northwestern</strong>. Before graduating in 2004, she also participated in<br />
both the Russian Studies Program and the American Studies Program<br />
through the Council for Christian <strong>College</strong>s & Universities. Her semester<br />
in Russia coincided with the U.S. invasion of Iraq.<br />
“Suddenly I was having to field questions from fellow Russian<br />
students about U.S. foreign policy,” she says. “That was a really<br />
interesting and challenging time to be there.”<br />
The final semester of her senior year she was in Washington, D.C.,<br />
taking classes in domestic and foreign policy and interning with the<br />
Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.<br />
While Keith doesn’t work directly for the federal government,<br />
she still considers her job a public service. As a policy analyst for the<br />
Homeland Security Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., she views<br />
U.S. security through the lens of foreign affairs. Her research and<br />
writing is used in testimony before Congress and in advising the federal<br />
government.<br />
“Our audience is policy makers within the Department of Homeland<br />
Security, the intelligence community and the Department of State,” she<br />
says.<br />
Keith is also working on a master’s degree in security policy at<br />
George Washington University.<br />
“Tons of people go to school for international affairs or foreign<br />
relations and are generalists,” she says. “I wanted a specific skill. I’m<br />
interested in international security cooperation. I’m interested in how to<br />
stop terrorists.”<br />
22 FAll <strong>2008</strong>
U.S. SECRET SERVICE<br />
Rachel Klay confers with two members of the U.S. Capitol Police while working as a member<br />
of the Secret Service during President Reagan’s funeral in 2004.<br />
Providing Protection<br />
Rachel Klay remembers Geraldine Ferraro’s white-knuckled grip<br />
on the Secret Service agents as they struggled to extricate her from the<br />
crowd. The Democratic vice presidential candidate in 1984, Ferraro<br />
had stepped off a plane and entered a crowd to shake hands during a<br />
campaign stop.<br />
Suddenly Ferraro was completed surrounded, with people pushing<br />
forward in their enthusiasm to see her.<br />
“People weren’t trying to be dangerous,” Klay says. “The danger was<br />
just a large crowd moving on its own accord. We had to lock arms and<br />
physically force our way out of there.”<br />
A petite 5-foot-3, Klay enjoyed a successful career in what has<br />
typically been a man’s world. When she joined the Secret Service in<br />
1983, she was one of just 36 women in a force of 2,000. Even today,<br />
less than 5 percent of agents are women. Retired in 2007 after 23 years,<br />
she continues to use her skills—though now as a special agent in the<br />
protective services unit for the Federal Reserve Board chairman.<br />
Klay’s interest in law enforcement was encouraged by her father, who<br />
was a lawyer, and grandfather, a U.S. district court judge. She graduated<br />
from <strong>Northwestern</strong> in 1980 with majors in psychology and sociology and<br />
joined the Secret Service three years later.<br />
Over the course of her career, Klay protected Presidents George<br />
H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, hunted child abductors and serial killers as<br />
part of a joint task force with the FBI, and served as the Secret Service<br />
liaison to the Pentagon, CIA, and legislative and judicial branches of the<br />
U.S. government.<br />
Despite all the 10- to 15-hour workdays, she has no regrets. “I<br />
looked at it as more than a career,” she says. “It’s a service to my country.”<br />
Representing America<br />
In February, the State Department offered Sara Veldhuizen Stealy a<br />
job. Now she’s in Zambia, serving as the assistant public affairs officer for<br />
the U.S. Embassy.<br />
While that timeline may seem quick, Stealy first applied to the<br />
department more than four years ago. The positions are so competitive<br />
there wasn’t a question what her answer would be when the assignment<br />
finally came.<br />
“The foreign service officers I know say it’s not just a job—it’s an<br />
entire lifestyle,” she says. “But they say it’s the most worthwhile and<br />
interesting career you can have.”<br />
A 1998 <strong>Northwestern</strong> graduate, Stealy spent seven years in<br />
communications and marketing for a national accounting firm. In<br />
Zambia, she is working with the media and directing cultural and<br />
educational exchange programs. Her career track changed when she saw<br />
a newspaper article about government jobs. The opportunity to serve her<br />
country fit her upbringing.<br />
“My dad was a civil servant. He worked for the postal service,” Stealy<br />
says. “He was very proud of being able to provide that service to people.”<br />
The selection process for foreign service officers is extensive,<br />
involving a written test, oral assessment, medical and security clearances,<br />
and final suitability review. The qualifications are simple: Candidates<br />
must be U.S. citizens, 21 to 60 years old—and willing to go wherever the<br />
State Department sends them.<br />
“In our training, they emphasized the most important word in your<br />
job is ‘service,’” Stealy says. “We’re in the foreign service, and we all<br />
officially sign on and swear that we are worldwide available, according to<br />
the needs of the department.”<br />
For Stealy, that means a new life in Africa.<br />
Erick Danzer<br />
The flag of Zambia will become as familiar as the Stars and Stripes to Sara Veldhuizen<br />
Stealy, now that she is a foreign service officer in that African nation.<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic<br />
23
LOOKING BACK<br />
Degrees of Diplomacy<br />
by Tamara FynaardT<br />
A year before he became the<br />
41st president of the United<br />
States, George H.W. Bush<br />
became <strong>Northwestern</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s<br />
most famous honorary degree<br />
recipient.<br />
November 19, 1987. Sharpshooters perched on the top of the Orange<br />
City grain elevator. Bomb-sniffing dogs paced inside the Rowenhorst<br />
Student Center while a helicopter circled overhead.<br />
Inside, the highest ranking government official ever to visit<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> <strong>College</strong>, Vice President George H.W. Bush, sat before a<br />
packed arena and listened as music professor Dr. Herb Ritsema listed his<br />
achievements: naval aviator at the age of 18, Yale University graduate, U.S.<br />
ambassador to the United Nations, director of the CIA, Ronald Reagan’s<br />
running mate.<br />
The impressive litany was followed by the conferring<br />
of an honorary Doctor of laws degree, making the future<br />
president <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s most famous honoree.<br />
Former Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Harold<br />
Heie, who placed the academic hood over Bush’s head,<br />
remembers the veep leaning over during the introduction,<br />
pointing to his program and asking, “Where are we?”<br />
Political scandal often misses agreeable little communities<br />
like <strong>Northwestern</strong>, but the dignified ceremony and Bush’s<br />
nonpartisan speech on family values were the culmination of weeks of<br />
campus controversy.<br />
The campaign to award Bush an honorary degree was launched when<br />
Andrea Van Beek ’74, a Board of Trustees member and chair of the Sioux<br />
County Republicans at the time, asked Bush, a personal friend, to include<br />
northwest Iowa in his <strong>fall</strong> travel.<br />
She’d seen a list of <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s honorary degree recipients—honorees<br />
like Sen. Mark Hatfield and the Rev. Norman Vincent Peale—and asked<br />
Sharpshooters<br />
perched on the top<br />
of the Orange City<br />
grain elevator while<br />
a helicopter circled<br />
overhead.<br />
President Jim Bultman, “Wouldn’t it be nice to see the vice president’s<br />
name on this list?” Bultman agreed.<br />
Plans to bestow the degree were announced on campus in October,<br />
around the time Bush announced his candidacy for the Republican<br />
nomination. Protestors were small in number, but vocal. Incensed<br />
Democrats and others argued that honoring a Republican candidate this<br />
close to the Iowa caucuses was inappropriate—tantamount to a political<br />
endorsement.<br />
Bultman maintained that the honorary degree was being<br />
given to a statesman who had achieved much, including the<br />
second-highest office in the land. He insisted the pomp and<br />
circumstance were not political.<br />
Impassioned protestors wrote scathing letters to the<br />
Beacon student newspaper, advocating a boycott of the event<br />
and other forms of protest. The controversy escalated when<br />
the Young Democrats organized a mock election, asking<br />
voters to determine whether an honorary degree should be<br />
given to George Bush, the burning bush, or Busch beer.<br />
On the 19th, though, even dissidents—who wore orange stickers as<br />
a sign of their protest—couldn’t resist watching as Secret Service agents<br />
ushered the vice president’s motorcade through campus.<br />
After Bush and his entourage of politicos and press had left, students<br />
tallied the results of the mock election. The burning bush edged out<br />
George Bush by 50 to 42 votes.<br />
Votes for Busch beer were not counted.<br />
24<br />
FAll <strong>2008</strong>
Funding <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s Mission<br />
2007–08 giving tops $3.7 million<br />
Fundraising Report<br />
July 1, 2007, to June 30, <strong>2008</strong><br />
n Total giving was $3,729,269.<br />
n The average alumni gift to the <strong>Northwestern</strong> Fund was $190.<br />
(Nationally, the average alumni gift to private liberal arts colleges<br />
was $497.)<br />
n The percentage of <strong>Northwestern</strong> alumni giving to <strong>Northwestern</strong><br />
was 23%. (The national average for alumni giving to private liberal<br />
arts colleges in 2007–08 was 25%.)<br />
n The Tower Society ($1,000+) totaled 224 members, including 47<br />
new members; 42 gave at the silver level ($2,500+), and 2 gave at<br />
the gold level ($5,000+).<br />
n The Heritage Society (donors making planned gifts) grew by 16<br />
members to 614.<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Fund 2006–07 2007–08<br />
Alumni $526,345 $420,653<br />
Friends $395,545 $306,916<br />
Foundations/grants $620,280 $112,878<br />
Corporations $149,268 $130,216<br />
Churches $375,303 $371,815<br />
Other $34,467 $49,671<br />
Subtotal $2,101,208 $1,392,149<br />
Capital and Endowed Gifts<br />
2006–07 2007–08<br />
Alumni $493,564 $496,335<br />
Friends $543,232 $736,260<br />
Foundations/grants $220,720 $262,300<br />
Corporations $125,197 $62,745<br />
Churches $1,000 $1,101<br />
Estates $530,892 $683,379<br />
Other $95,500 $95,000<br />
Subtotal $2,010,105 $2,337,120<br />
Grand total $4,111,313 $3,729,269<br />
Imagine Campaign<br />
Goal Total raised<br />
learning Commons $20 million $6,893,297<br />
Academic Innovation $5 million $1,377,865<br />
Rowenhorst Student Center renovation $3 million $482,837<br />
Scholarships $2 million $3,332,647<br />
Undesignated gifts $222,855<br />
Total $30 million $12,309,501<br />
Alumni Giving<br />
Best giving percentage<br />
Class of 1944 55%<br />
Class of 1946 55%<br />
Class of 1947 52%<br />
Class of 1948 50%<br />
Class of 1949 50%<br />
Best giving overall<br />
Class of 1972 $135,352<br />
Class of 1953 $117,855<br />
Class of 1982 $75,580<br />
Class of 1981 $74,105<br />
Class of 1965 $39,710<br />
Best giving to the <strong>Northwestern</strong> Fund<br />
Class of 1955 $23,620<br />
Class of 1969 $20,073<br />
Class of 1997 $19,480<br />
Class of 1965 $18,820<br />
Class of 1972 $18,592<br />
Planned Giving<br />
Bequests received $683,379<br />
Gifts for endowed scholarships $1,130,312<br />
On the Web exclusive<br />
Review the list of 2007–08 donors to <strong>Northwestern</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> at www.nwciowa.edu/annualreport. Use the<br />
password “give2nwc” to access the list. If you prefer<br />
a printed version, please request one from the college’s<br />
advancement office, 712-707-7106.<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 25
class Notes<br />
The Rev. Leon Draayer LaVonne (Meyer) Witte teaches<br />
’68 recently retired from ministry special education at Rock Valley (Iowa)<br />
with the Reformed Church in America. He Elementary School. Her husband, Scott<br />
and his wife, Marion, have moved from ’79, is an administrator at Hope Haven.<br />
Baldwin, Wis., to Mira Loma, Calif., to be They have three children: Seth (24), Sara<br />
near their children and grandchildren. (20) and Erica (18).<br />
Marlis (Van Veldhuizen) Kuiper<br />
retired in May after teaching for 33 years<br />
in Spencer, Iowa. The last 26 years of her<br />
career were spent at the Spencer Family<br />
YMCA Preschool. Her husband, Gary, is<br />
also a retired teacher.<br />
Leon Pannkuk, Manchester,<br />
’72 Mo., is a regional coordinator<br />
for Evangelism Explosion International. His<br />
wife, Marlene (Van Aalsburg ’78), is<br />
a stay-at-home mom.<br />
Cornie Wassink was<br />
’73 inducted into the Iowa High<br />
School Athletic Association Officials Hall of<br />
Fame during May ceremonies at the state<br />
track meet. It was the 13th state meet at<br />
which he has served as a starter.<br />
Dennis Durband, Chandler,<br />
’76 Ariz., is a marketing and<br />
development writer for the Alliance Defense<br />
Fund, an organization dedicated to the<br />
defense of religious freedom, the sanctity of<br />
life, and marriage and family.<br />
Mary Ann (Anker) Pals<br />
’77 is a professional artist living in<br />
Chesterton, Ind. She teaches art and serves<br />
on the board for the Chesterton Art Center.<br />
One of her pastel paintings, a sunset over<br />
Lake Michigan, was recently selected by the<br />
Indiana lieutenant governor to hang in the<br />
Indiana Statehouse.<br />
Kim Donat is the director<br />
’78 of student financial aid at<br />
Indiana State University in Terre Haute. He<br />
previously was registrar and director of<br />
financial aid at Delta <strong>College</strong> in Michigan.<br />
Robert Van’t Land and his wife,<br />
Bonnie (Hoskins ’82), teach at Boyden-<br />
Hull (Iowa) Schools. They have two sons in<br />
college, Drew and J.C., and a high school<br />
junior, Gabe.<br />
James Miller, Rochester,<br />
’83 Minn., continues to teach but<br />
has retired from coaching football after 24<br />
years. In his 14 seasons as head coach at<br />
Mayo High School, he led the team to six<br />
conference championships and finished<br />
with a 111-37 career record.<br />
Jim Svoboda was recently promoted<br />
to assistant head football coach and cooffensive<br />
coordinator at Montana State<br />
University in Bozeman.<br />
Ann Dahl, Liberty, Mo., has<br />
’88 been an elementary school<br />
counselor for 15 years.<br />
Brenda (Pool) Keene, Colorado<br />
Springs, Colo., traveled to Europe this past<br />
summer with her daughter, Brittany, who<br />
was selected to play flute for Colorado<br />
Ambassadors of Music.<br />
The Rev. Mark Widman, Walker,<br />
Minn., is pastor of Calvary Evangelical<br />
Free Church. He and his wife, Kara<br />
(Coykendall), have four children.<br />
Crystal Dykstra, San<br />
’91 Mateo, Calif., is a financial<br />
adviser with Edward Jones Investments.<br />
Sandra (Tew) Heeren is a<br />
’92 program manager for Staples<br />
Promotional Products in Orange City.<br />
Michele Mason, Gibsonia, Pa., is an<br />
enrollment counselor for the University of<br />
Phoenix.<br />
The Rev. Nathan de<br />
’93 Vries is pastor of Willmar<br />
(Minn.) Christian Reformed Church.<br />
Peter Gepson is a high school band<br />
director in Albert Lea, Minn. He and his<br />
wife, Nicole (Molnau ’96), have two<br />
children: Jack (8) and Emma (2).<br />
Red Ties<br />
rachel Van den broek ’02<br />
Director of Alumni and Parent Relations<br />
As I move on from <strong>Northwestern</strong> and relocate to West Des<br />
Moines to be closer to family, I will be connecting electronically with<br />
my alma mater like many of you are already doing.<br />
Jake Moss ’70 lives in Annville, Ky. A former <strong>Northwestern</strong><br />
athlete, he enjoys watching Raider sports via webcasts—especially<br />
games against rivals USF and Dordt. His Web connection to Raider<br />
athletics has led him to other areas of our website. As a result,<br />
he often recognizes students’ names when they arrive with<br />
Spring Service Project teams to serve his organization,<br />
Jackson County Ministries.<br />
A former youth minister, Alli (Fiene ’98) Van Roekel<br />
used Facebook to connect with teens and their culture.<br />
She and her husband, Jamison ’98, moved recently<br />
and have been keeping in touch with distant family<br />
and friends via Facebook. They’ve also renewed relationships<br />
with college classmates they’d lost track of.<br />
Alli says, “It’s been so much fun to remember these wonderful<br />
people from the different stages of my life.”<br />
Angela Jiskoot ’08 spent last spring participating in the<br />
Chicago Semester and learned how important networking<br />
is. Beginning her job search while in the Windy City, Angela<br />
joined LinkedIn, a professional social networking website.<br />
She says, “LinkedIn helped me land my dream job in public<br />
relations.”<br />
As a <strong>Northwestern</strong> graduate, you’re already “linked in” to<br />
a network of 11,000 alumni. Tools like <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s website,<br />
Facebook and LinkedIn help us maintain some of the friendships<br />
we made on campus—and begin new relationships with<br />
fellow Raiders we haven’t met yet.<br />
Visit www.nwciowa.edu/alumni, which includes a new gallery<br />
of alumni photos. And be our friend by joining the “<strong>Northwestern</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> Alumni” group on Facebook or the “<strong>Northwestern</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
Alumni and Friends–Orange City, IA” group on LinkedIn.<br />
26<br />
FAll <strong>2008</strong>
C LASS NOTES<br />
Laura (Foland) Hollinger does tech<br />
work and teaching correspondence for<br />
Murray (Iowa) Community Schools. She and<br />
her husband, Dave, have three children:<br />
Jason (16), Kahlan (7) and Justin (1).<br />
Lori (Voskuil) Scholtens<br />
’94 teaches kindergarten at Orange<br />
City Elementary. Her husband, Rick ’92, is<br />
an engineer at Interstates in Sioux Center.<br />
Jason Kaat serves as<br />
’95 director of youth and emerging<br />
ministries at Redeemer Lutheran Church in<br />
Plymouth, Wis. He was recently appointed<br />
Wisconsin state coordinator for the National<br />
Network of Youth Ministries.<br />
Jason Kanz, Eau Claire, Wis., recently<br />
become the first board-certified clinical<br />
neuropsychologist in west and northwest<br />
Wisconsin.<br />
Caroline (Rogers)<br />
’96 Musgrove is an information<br />
technology manager for Walt Disney World<br />
Park and Resorts in Orlando, Fla.<br />
Travis Voltz is pursuing a master’s<br />
degree in communication studies at Regis<br />
University in Denver.<br />
Jason Kooiker, Sioux Falls,<br />
’97 earned an M.B.A. from the<br />
University of Sioux Falls in May.<br />
Kenya (Kowalke)<br />
’98 Arrants, Ames, Iowa, recently<br />
received a master’s degree in library science<br />
from the University of Illinois. She is a<br />
librarian for the Madrid School District.<br />
John Boyer is a chaplain at McGuire Air<br />
Force Base near Trenton, N.J. He and his<br />
wife, Crystal, have three children: Kyndra (5),<br />
Caleb (2) and Brennan (1).<br />
Kelli (Hansen) Holthe runs an inhome<br />
daycare business in Grand Forks, N.D.<br />
She and her husband, Jon ’96, have two<br />
daughters: Bria (8) and Emmy (5).<br />
Brad Keyn is the director of Youth Alive.<br />
He and his wife, Cheryl (Jamieson), live<br />
in Hammond, Wis., with their three children:<br />
Autumn (7), Hunter (4) and Grace (2).<br />
Curt Weerheim says his family’s ministry in China was like a two-year campout. “It was<br />
a family adventure—we took advantage of a lot of opportunities to experience life in<br />
China and get to know the people.”<br />
Going for Real Gold<br />
When China pulled off an Olympics known for breathtaking<br />
ceremonies, dazzling venues and record-breaking performances,<br />
Curt Weerheim ’76 was not surprised. He’d spent the previous two<br />
years living in Beijing, working closely with coaches and members of<br />
the organizing committee.<br />
“China had been waiting for an opportunity to prove to the world<br />
what they’re capable of doing,” he says. “It was amazing to see all the<br />
work and detail they went to.”<br />
Weerheim saw Beijing literally transformed. Every apartment<br />
building was painted, the city was groomed and manicured,<br />
construction was halted, factories were temporarily shut down and<br />
traffic reduced to clean up the city’s smog, and banners were erected<br />
to hide anything deemed not presentable. Even street beggars and<br />
peasants hauling vegetables on mule-driven carts were conspicuously<br />
absent.<br />
Weerheim and his wife, Sherri—in China on student visas to<br />
learn the language—pioneered a sports ministry for Athletes in<br />
Action. He taught English to people preparing to run the games,<br />
trained basketball coaches, set up sports exchange programs, and<br />
advised a group of 80 individuals from around the world who shared<br />
the gospel with Olympic athletes.<br />
Weerheim found the Chinese to be extremely gracious, eager to<br />
make friends and open to learning more about Christianity.<br />
The Weerheims are now back in lebanon, Ohio, where they<br />
continue their work with Athletes in Action.<br />
by duane beeson<br />
Tara (Simmons) Kluth, Mantorville,<br />
Minn., stays home with her four children:<br />
Evan (7), Aidan (4), Toby (3) and Avery (1).<br />
Clint Lutterman, Grimes, Iowa, is a<br />
physical therapist at 21st Century Rehab. He<br />
and his wife, Jody, have a son, Nate (2).<br />
Sara Veldhuizen Stealy is a foreign<br />
service officer for the U.S. Department of<br />
State. She and her husband, Dave, have<br />
moved to Zambia, where she is the assistant<br />
public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy.<br />
Jennifer (Calhoon) Talarico works as<br />
a program director with Heartland Family<br />
Service, an early childhood health education<br />
program, in Omaha.<br />
Allison (Fiene) Van Roekel,<br />
Davenport, Iowa, is a sales associate for<br />
Von Maur.<br />
Linsay (Carlson) Vladimirov is<br />
campus ministries coordinator at Dordt<br />
<strong>College</strong>.<br />
Amber (Soldan) Widstrom is a<br />
physician assistant at Meridian Clinical<br />
Research and the University of Nebraska<br />
Medical Center in Omaha. She and her<br />
husband, Jess, have a daughter, Hannah (4).<br />
Steven Wilbur, Golden Valley, Minn.,<br />
recently earned a bachelor’s degree in<br />
organizational leadership from Bethel<br />
University.<br />
Sherrie Barber Willson, Grand Rapids,<br />
Mich., is pursuing a master’s degree in<br />
communications at Grand Valley State<br />
University. She is in charge of the website<br />
for Steelcase Inc.<br />
Candace (Hup) Boerema<br />
’99 is an English instructor for<br />
Litchfield (Minn.) Public Schools. She<br />
recently completed a master’s degree in<br />
education through St. Mary’s University.<br />
David Brommer is an assistant professor<br />
at the University of Alabama, teaching and<br />
doing research in climatology. He received<br />
a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from<br />
Mississippi State University and a master’s<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 27
C LASS NOTES<br />
degree and doctorate in geography, with an<br />
emphasis in climatology, from Arizona State<br />
University.<br />
Kirk Johnson serves as high school<br />
principal for Vinton-Shellsburg (Iowa)<br />
Community Schools. He recently completed<br />
coursework from Iowa State University in<br />
order to become a school superintendent.<br />
Dr. Dave Nystrom is a family practice<br />
physician at St. Anthony Regional Hospital<br />
in Carroll, Iowa.<br />
Josh Thomas, Arlington Heights, Ill.,<br />
completed a doctorate in kinesiology<br />
at Iowa State University in May. He is<br />
a professor of human performance and<br />
wellness at Trinity International University.<br />
Jeremy Van Engen, Pella, Iowa,<br />
teaches elementary physical education at<br />
Knoxville Community School.<br />
The Rev. Cory Moss serves<br />
’00as senior pastor of Christian<br />
Park Reformed Church in Indianapolis.<br />
Tom Scholtens, Mannheim, Germany, is<br />
an optometrist with the U.S. Army. His wife,<br />
Sara (Katzenberger), stays home with<br />
their son, Nathaniel (2).<br />
Tom Truesdell is the academic support<br />
center director at <strong>Northwestern</strong>.<br />
Amber (Davis) Backes<br />
’01is the records manager for<br />
Environmental Systems Design in Chicago.<br />
Andrea Brouwer, Grimes, Iowa,<br />
graduated from Mercy <strong>College</strong> of Health<br />
Sciences and serves as a registered nurse<br />
in the emergency room at Iowa Methodist<br />
Medical Center in Des Moines. She also<br />
works for a local ambulance service,<br />
volunteers for the Grimes Fire and Rescue<br />
Department, and substitute teaches.<br />
Alicia (Moehring) Ellingson, Santa<br />
Fe, N.M., designs electronic medical record<br />
software for hospitals around the U.S.<br />
Dr. Steve Vander Leest graduated<br />
from the Siouxland Medical Education<br />
Foundation family medicine residency<br />
As a voluntary adviser for the U.S. Army, Jeff Knowles met daily with government officials,<br />
clergy and farmers to determine how to rebuild Afghanistan’s agricultural system.<br />
Growing Concern<br />
For six months, Jeff Knowles’ work as a soil conservationist required<br />
a flak jacket and a military escort. Today, he’s back with the U.S.<br />
Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service<br />
in Kealakekua, Hawaii, but he can’t forget his time as an agricultural<br />
adviser in Afghanistan.<br />
“It was the most rewarding experience of my life,” says Knowles, a<br />
member of <strong>Northwestern</strong>’s class of 1980. “The Afghans are wonderful,<br />
hospitable people; they literally would give you the last food they had in<br />
their house.”<br />
One of Knowles’ goals was to help ensure that subsistence farmers<br />
in two eastern Afghanistan provinces could raise even more food—and<br />
their standard of living. In a land with only one tractor for every 1,000<br />
farmers, he offered advice on issues such as soil erosion and crop<br />
irrigation. Ten of the projects he developed received $1 million in U.S.<br />
Army funding, including an apple juice factory, apricot drying facilities<br />
and food storage systems.<br />
Knowles contracted malaria while in Afghanistan, but he knows<br />
that wasn’t the harshest threat. After he returned to the U.S., another<br />
agricultural adviser in his region was killed by an improvised explosive<br />
device (IED).<br />
Today he watches news of the country’s deteriorating security<br />
conditions with a heavy heart. “I think about Afghanistan every day.”<br />
by duane beeson<br />
program in Sioux City and serves as a<br />
family physician at Sanford Sheldon (Iowa)<br />
Medical Center and Clinic. His wife, Tarra<br />
(Klein ’00), is an optometrist in Sheldon<br />
and Sibley.<br />
Katie (Severson) Winne, Rockford,<br />
Mich., manages the American Cancer<br />
Society’s Hope Lodge, which houses<br />
cancer patients and their caregivers during<br />
treatment.<br />
Brian Darby earned a<br />
’02doctorate in plant and soil<br />
science at the University of Vermont and is<br />
a post-doctoral researcher at Kansas State<br />
University.<br />
Jen Medema graduated from the<br />
University of Texas in May with a master’s<br />
degree in curriculum and instruction,<br />
specializing in language and literacy. She is<br />
the director of education for Sylvan Learning<br />
Center in Lubbock.<br />
Sarah Yoder completed a Ph.D. in<br />
English (rhetoric and composition) from<br />
Texas Christian University in May. She is an<br />
assistant professor of English and director<br />
of the writing center at Westmont <strong>College</strong> in<br />
Santa Barbara, Calif.<br />
Christy (Amundson)<br />
’03Alquist, Meriden, Iowa, is a<br />
special education teacher at South O’Brien<br />
High School. She completed a master’s<br />
degree in education with an emphasis in<br />
leadership in May.<br />
Christina Bakker, Fairport, N.Y., is<br />
pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing<br />
from Roberts Wesleyan <strong>College</strong> in Rochester.<br />
She is a resident counselor for Heritage<br />
Christian Services.<br />
Malinda Burk, a science teacher in<br />
Lincoln, Neb., was recently named an<br />
associate fellow by the National Science<br />
Teachers Association. The honor provides her<br />
with a yearlong professional development<br />
fellowship.<br />
Heidi Church is director of youth and<br />
family ministries at Bethlehem Lutheran<br />
Church in Cherokee, Iowa.<br />
28<br />
FAll <strong>2008</strong>
C LASS NOTES<br />
Melanie DeBoer, Fayette, Iowa, is<br />
director of athletic recruiting for Upper<br />
Iowa University.<br />
Christie (Jans) Kille, Sioux Center,<br />
is employed in merchandising at Staples<br />
Promotional Products in Orange City.<br />
Kristin (Erickson) Lassen, Remsen,<br />
Iowa, stays home with her daughter, Kienna<br />
(1), and works part time as a personal<br />
trainer.<br />
Sarah (Fanning) Ortega, San Pedro,<br />
Calif., works for Laser Pacific Media Corp., a<br />
post-production company.<br />
Robert Reitz is a document solutions<br />
consultant for Better Business Equipment<br />
in Omaha.<br />
Carleen (Owens) Smith is the teen<br />
pregnancy prevention director at the<br />
Clarinda (Iowa) Foundation.<br />
Tim Vander Ploeg, Omaha, is a<br />
document solutions consultant at Better<br />
Business Equipment. He and his wife, Kelli<br />
(Hansen), have a son, Connor (1).<br />
The Rev. Josh Van Leeuwen<br />
serves as pastor of North Holland (Mich.)<br />
Reformed Church. His wife, Heather<br />
(Boersma), recently received a master’s<br />
degree in social work from Grand Valley<br />
State University and an M.Div. from Western<br />
Theological Seminary. She works at ATLAS<br />
in Zeeland.<br />
Mary Beth (Sears) Breen,<br />
’04 Sheldon, Iowa, completed<br />
a master’s degree in teaching from<br />
Morningside <strong>College</strong> in May.<br />
Kelli (Vermeer) Cummins, Mammoth<br />
Lakes, Calif., works in the human resources<br />
department at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.<br />
Tyson Graham is the head cross country<br />
and track and field coach at Ashford<br />
University in Clinton, Iowa.<br />
Cory Nyhuis, Sioux Falls, is one of three<br />
NWC alumni who participated in the Sea<br />
to Sea Bike Tour sponsored by the Christian<br />
Reformed Church. Cory was a driver for<br />
the “sag wagon,” and fellow alums Lynn<br />
Verros ’89 and Tyler Buitenwerf ’99<br />
rode bikes. The ride began in June in Seattle<br />
and ended two months later in Jersey<br />
City, N.J. Participants were required to<br />
raise approximately $10,000 each to fund<br />
initiatives aimed at reducing poverty.<br />
Brooke Oehme is director of youth and<br />
family ministry at Wesley United Methodist<br />
Family Life Center in Muscatine, Iowa.<br />
She also serves as an instructor of world<br />
religions and philosophy at Muscatine<br />
Community <strong>College</strong>.<br />
Nick Wellman, Monroe, Wis., is a<br />
veterinarian for Argyle Veterinary Services.<br />
His wife, Toni (Gilliam ’05), is a second<br />
grade teacher at Parkside Elementary.<br />
Kim (Boersma) Dykstra,<br />
’05 Lennox, S.D., is a physician<br />
assistant for Sanford Health. Her husband,<br />
Jamie, is pastor of Delaware Reformed<br />
Church.<br />
The Rev. Chris Jacobsen graduated<br />
from New Brunswick Theological Seminary<br />
with an M.Div. degree and was ordained<br />
into RCA ministry. He serves as pastor of<br />
the Reformed Church of Freehold (N.J.). His<br />
wife, Sarah (Huibregtse), teaches first<br />
grade in Freehold Borough Public Schools.<br />
Matthew Klomp, Cedar City, Utah, is<br />
on the wilderness therapy field staff for<br />
RedCliff Ascent.<br />
Brent Mulder received an M.Div. from<br />
Princeton Theological Seminary in May.<br />
Teresa (Larson) Templin, Charlotte,<br />
N.C., teaches first grade for Union County<br />
Public Schools. Her husband, Cody, works<br />
for Jackson National Life.<br />
Nathan Willems graduated from<br />
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary with<br />
an M.Div. degree in May. He is serving as a<br />
graduate intern at Chinese Bible Church of<br />
Greater Lowell (Mass.).<br />
Brittany Caffey, Amanda<br />
’06 Kirkpatrick and Anna<br />
Wilkinson biked from East Glacier,<br />
Mont., to Orange City over the course of<br />
three weeks this summer. Before departing,<br />
they raised money to donate to organiza-<br />
DAVID gEmAS<br />
A college internship with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs office in Des Moines<br />
led Tiffany Gemas to a nine-year VA career that has included service in Iowa, Japan,<br />
South Korea and now Florida.<br />
Vet Servant<br />
Although he hadn’t seen combat in 50 years, his experiences in<br />
World War II still haunted him. He had never held a job long term<br />
or had strong personal relationships, and by the time he finally asked<br />
the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for help, it seemed too late.<br />
That didn’t stop Tiffany (lassen ’99) Gemas, a VA specialist who<br />
found a way to provide assistance.<br />
“Here’s someone who willingly served his country, and because of<br />
that, he was never able to live the life he had dreamed,” Gemas says.<br />
“Remember lincoln’s speech, where he challenged us to bind up the<br />
nation’s wounds, to care for those who have borne the battle, their<br />
widows and orphans? That’s what I’m here to do.”<br />
With the current wars adding injured vets nearly every day,<br />
Gemas is busier than ever. After four years at an Army base in South<br />
Korea, she now works in Orlando, Fla., evaluating disability claims<br />
submitted by veterans. It’s a weighty responsibility—and a stressful<br />
one. Often she wants to grant a request, but the person isn’t eligible<br />
and the law requires her to refuse the claim.<br />
Those situations, however, are balanced by the many opportunities<br />
she has to help people—like that World War II veteran who’s still<br />
learning how to live. “Hopefully, my compassion and care for them<br />
come across,” she says.<br />
by sherrie barber Willson ’98<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 29
C LASS NOTES<br />
tions such as Southern Sudan Health Care<br />
and Bethany Christian Services. Caffey said<br />
a highlight of the trip was the last day because<br />
they saved their biggest ride for the<br />
finale—biking 107 miles from Canistota,<br />
S.D., to Orange City.<br />
Amy Commers recently earned a<br />
master’s degree in library and information<br />
studies from the University of Wisconsin-<br />
Madison. She serves as a youth services<br />
librarian at the Ames (Iowa) Public Library.<br />
Kristin Heumann, Chandler, Ariz., is<br />
a lifestyle coordinator at Club One. She’s<br />
pursuing a doctorate in physical activity,<br />
nutrition and wellness at Arizona State<br />
University.<br />
Danielle (Dornbierer) Whigham,<br />
West Des Moines, Iowa, is a marketing<br />
coordinator for Vodaci Technologies.<br />
Amanda Gilliam is<br />
’07 pursuing a master’s degree<br />
in forensic psychology at Marymount<br />
University in Arlington, Va.<br />
Emily Hoekema, business communications<br />
coordinator for Lawrence and<br />
Schiller in Sioux Falls, scripted a video<br />
used to announce Sanford Health’s plan to<br />
seek a cure for type 1 diabetes. The video<br />
features Ben Calsbeek (5), the son of NWC<br />
employees Tina (Ter Horst ’97) and<br />
Dr. Dean Calsbeek ’97.<br />
Brooke Huizenga is the resident<br />
director of Walker Hall at John Brown<br />
University in Siloam Springs, Ark.<br />
Amanda Allen is pursuing<br />
’08 a law degree at the University<br />
of the Pacific in Sacramento, Calif.<br />
Carley Christoffers, Pocahontas, Iowa,<br />
is a second grade teacher for the Nodaway<br />
Valley Community School District.<br />
Elizabeth Colbert, Sioux Falls, is a lead<br />
patient service representative for Avera<br />
McKennan’s regional clinics. She assists<br />
clinics in converting computer systems to<br />
electronic medical records and billing.<br />
Anthony Ebert is the assistant band<br />
director for Colorado Springs (Colo.)<br />
Christian Schools.<br />
Renae (Katsma) Heesch, Palatine, Ill.,<br />
is a staff accountant at Trinity International<br />
University in Deerfield.<br />
Jessica Jenkins teaches first grade for<br />
the Millard Public Schools in Omaha.<br />
Angela Jiskoot is an administrative<br />
assistant at Weber Shandwick Worldwide<br />
in Chicago.<br />
Sara (Vee) Meekhof is an early<br />
childhood preschool teacher in Sioux Falls.<br />
Laura Schmidt, Littleton, Colo., is a<br />
missionary service volunteer recruitment<br />
processor at Youth for Christ.<br />
New arrivals<br />
Robert and Julianne (James ’86) Doty,<br />
daughter by adoption, Jill Lynn (3), joins<br />
Kristin (12) and Drew (10)<br />
Jason and Karla (Jongeling ’90) Hanson,<br />
daughter, Hattie Ann, joins Ketia and<br />
Luke<br />
Kevin and Ann (Lapinski ’90) Jongsma,<br />
daughter by adoption from China, Abby<br />
Qian (2), joins Jenna (6)<br />
Ryan and Cindy (Pletke ’92) Blackard,<br />
son, Andrew Ryan, joins Ian (6) and<br />
Garrett (3)<br />
Miguel and Stacy Rulla-Parroquin ’93,<br />
daughter, Cristina Isabel<br />
Lori (Voskuil ’94) and Rick Scholtens<br />
’92, son, Gabriel Paul, joins Trevor (10),<br />
Garrett (7) and Karsten (2)<br />
Sherry (Ferrell ’96) and Ryan DeHaan<br />
’96, son, Grant Abraham, joins April (8)<br />
and Janna (5)<br />
Amy and Kevin Kroeze ’96, daughter,<br />
Emerson Renae, joins Brent (3)<br />
John and Caroline (Rogers ’96)<br />
Musgrove, son, Roger John (RJ)<br />
Catherine (Vermeer ’97) and Matthew<br />
Bloom ’97, daughter, Maria Dawn<br />
Greg and Julie (Vermeer ’97) Elliott,<br />
daughter, Annalise Merilyn, joins Victoria<br />
(14)<br />
David and Sarah (Elgersma ’97) Strope,<br />
son, Daniel Charles<br />
Be Counted<br />
Carly and Patrick Blackwell ’98,<br />
daughter, Daphne Lynne, joins Madeline<br />
(9), Xavier (7) and Catherine (3)<br />
Jonathan and Jennifer (Hubers ’99)<br />
Bentz, son, Zachariah Jon, joins Hannah<br />
Morgan and Jeremy Blom ’99, son,<br />
Alexander John<br />
Candace (Hup ’99) and Adam Boerema<br />
’00, son, Gideon Richard, joins Owen (7)<br />
and Margaret (5)<br />
Jonathan and Tasha (Kurtz ’99) Cole,<br />
twin daughters, Madison Anne and Ellie<br />
Kirstine, join Taylor (4)<br />
Amy and Kirk Johnson ’99, daughter,<br />
Amiah Lynn, joins Karson (2)<br />
Mike and Carmen (Biesheuvel ’99) Law,<br />
son, Nathaniel David, joins Charlie (5)<br />
Matt and Kimberly (McGlone ’99)<br />
MonteMayer, daughter, Mia Isabella,<br />
joins Dominic (2)<br />
Jeanne and Josh Thomas ’99, daughter,<br />
Eden Gabrielle<br />
Rodrick and Maria (Olson ’00) Iedema,<br />
son, Roman Edward, joins Isaiah (3)<br />
Kimberly (Verburg ’00) and Daniel<br />
Peterson ’00, daughter, Amelia June,<br />
joins Jenna (6) and Ella (4)<br />
Curtis and Sarah (Everts ’00) Rodgers,<br />
daughter, Hannah Sue, joins Daniel (2)<br />
Make sure you’re among those alumni<br />
and friends making a difference in the<br />
lives of <strong>Northwestern</strong> students.<br />
Say “yes” when a student caller contacts<br />
you this <strong>fall</strong> with an opportunity to<br />
give to the <strong>Northwestern</strong> Fund.<br />
Fall Phonathon<br />
Sept. 15–Nov. 6<br />
Not by your phone much? Give online.<br />
It’s safe, secure, and puts your gift to work for<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong> students right away.<br />
give.nwciowa.edu<br />
Marissa and Eric Vermeer ’00, son, Cael<br />
Evan<br />
Dareck and Nichole (South ’00) Will,<br />
son, Dalton Thomas<br />
Melissa (Vermaat ’01) and Dave<br />
Nystrom ’99, daughter, Leah Faith,<br />
joins Zachary (2) and James (1)<br />
Dr. Elizabeth (Heeg ’01) and Tom<br />
Truesdell ’00, daughter, Ava Yvette,<br />
joins Aiden (3)<br />
Dave and Abi (Seymour ’01) Van<br />
Regenmorter, son, Coy James, joins<br />
Blake (4) and Trace (2)<br />
Melissa (Clark ’02) and Joel Bundt ’93,<br />
daughter, Evelyn Ruth, joins Josiah (5),<br />
Simeon (4) and Ezra (2)<br />
Chad and Karla (McMartin ’02) Hanson,<br />
daughter, Piper Janessa<br />
Dan and Laura (Menning ’03) Lunder,<br />
daughter, Ella Kathleen<br />
Penny (De Haan ’03) and Chris Rott<br />
’01, son, Isaac Harlan, joins Logan (5)<br />
Jason and Carleen (Owens ’03) Smith,<br />
son, Ian David<br />
Heather (Boersma ’03) and Josh Van<br />
Leeuwen ’03, son, Josiah John<br />
Julie (Rutz ’03) and Jordan<br />
Wondercheck ’03, twins, Stella Mae<br />
and Jackson Dean<br />
30<br />
FAll <strong>2008</strong>
Class notes<br />
Andrea (Smits ’04) and Steve Hydeen<br />
’02, daughter, Brielle Shaye, joins Lillian<br />
(4) and Josiah (2)<br />
Justin and Monica (Mitzel ’05) Boogerd,<br />
son, Blake Alan<br />
Alex and Jenny (Przymus ’05) Dighton,<br />
son, Kowen Xander<br />
Regina (Prokop ’05) and John Ranney<br />
’04, daughter, Andalucia Noel<br />
Aaron and Renee (Van Regenmorter<br />
’06) Alons, son, Asa Michael<br />
Robert and Jenna (Schweitzer ’06)<br />
Johnson, son, Laiken Robert<br />
Ashley (Adams ’06) and Kendall<br />
Stanislav ’05, daughter, Madyson<br />
Nicole<br />
Katie Smith ’07 and Sean Christensen,<br />
daughter, Mikayla Rose, joins Daniel (5)<br />
Marriages<br />
Linsay Carlson ’98 and Simeon<br />
Vladimirov, Sioux Center<br />
Emily Gosselink ’00 and Greg Ford,<br />
Chattanooga, Tenn.<br />
Melodee Crouse ’02 and Kyle Webb,<br />
Tegucigalpa, Honduras<br />
Sarah Fanning ’03 and Joshua Ortega,<br />
San Pedro, Calif.<br />
Sarah Hanson ’03 and Joseph Barbee,<br />
Anchorage, Alaska<br />
Sarah Taylor ’03 and Dan Wright,<br />
Norman, Okla.<br />
Lanay Robison ’04 and Adam Smith,<br />
North Fairfield, Ohio<br />
Emilee Severson ’05 and Robert Farrand,<br />
Plymouth, Minn.<br />
Katrina Hilberg ’06 and Louis Yang, Katy,<br />
Texas<br />
Tessa Rosier ’06 and Willem Drijfhout,<br />
Groningen, the Netherlands<br />
Derrica Dunn ’07 and Daniel Hutchings,<br />
Glenwood, Iowa<br />
Heidi Ackerman ’08 and Jonathan<br />
Woehl ’08, Tempe, Ariz.<br />
Anthony Ebert ’08 and Jennifer Smith,<br />
Colorado Springs, Colo.<br />
Renae Katsma ’08 and Jared Heesch,<br />
Palatine, Ill.<br />
Paula Pudewell ’08 and Jesse Hovemeyer,<br />
Granada, Minn.<br />
Sara Vee ’08 and Richard Meekhof ’08,<br />
Sioux Falls<br />
The couples reside in the city listed.<br />
In Memoriam<br />
Alberta Schuller ’39, age 88, of Alton,<br />
Iowa, died June 29 in Orange City. After<br />
attending <strong>Northwestern</strong> Junior <strong>College</strong>,<br />
she was a secretary for the Agricultural<br />
Soil and Conservation Service Office in<br />
Orange City and then farmed with her<br />
husband near Alton. She was a member<br />
of Alton Reformed Church, where she<br />
participated in Ladies Aid. She was also<br />
a member of the Floyd American Legion<br />
Post Auxiliary. She is survived by her<br />
husband, Henry.<br />
Cecil Van Peursem ’49 of Lantana, Fla.,<br />
died June 27 at age 81, after a yearlong<br />
battle with colon cancer. After retiring<br />
from the post office, he volunteered with<br />
several organizations, including the Gideons<br />
and Missionary Flights International.<br />
He was an active member of Lake Worth<br />
Christian Reformed Church, the American<br />
Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.<br />
Among his survivors are his wife, Dolly<br />
(Vreeman ’50); five children; and a<br />
brother, Mike ’38.<br />
Glenda “Marlene” (Brink ’50) Alons<br />
died July 5 in Sanborn, Iowa, at age 77.<br />
She taught in Sioux Center and Archer before<br />
farming with her husband, John, near<br />
Sanborn for 44 years. She was a member<br />
of Cornerstone United Reformed Church<br />
and volunteered at Village Northwest in<br />
Sheldon. She is survived by seven children<br />
and siblings Allan ’60, ’62; Stan ’64; and<br />
Joann Nelson ’53.<br />
Raymond Kiel ’50, age 75, died June 24 in<br />
Fullerton, Calif. After attending <strong>Northwestern</strong><br />
Classical Academy, he received degrees<br />
from Morningside <strong>College</strong> and San Diego<br />
State University. He taught high school<br />
math for many years, and he later worked<br />
on the Apollo spacecraft at North American<br />
Rockwell. He was a member of the Crystal<br />
Cathedral in Garden Grove. His survivors<br />
include his wife, Edna, and two sons.<br />
Gilbert Schulte ’67, age 66, of Alexander,<br />
Iowa, died May 21 in Mason City.<br />
A former truck driver, he worked most<br />
recently at Lehigh Concrete in Mason<br />
City. He was a lifelong member of First<br />
Reformed Church in Alexander. Among his<br />
survivors are a brother and a sister.<br />
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<strong>Northwestern</strong> Classic 31
Classic Thoughts<br />
Election Blues<br />
b y Jo e y Ea r l Ho r s t m a n ’87<br />
It’s September 1979. I’m in the 10th grade,<br />
running for a seat on the Fairmont High School<br />
Student Council. My opponent—let’s call her<br />
Margaret Thatcher—is an experienced, able<br />
politician, captain of both the debate team and the<br />
cheerleading squad.<br />
Any way you look at it, my campaign is in trouble.<br />
She is bright and articulate; I have said three audible<br />
words in the past two years. She is sophisticated<br />
and confident; I am perpetually embarrassed and<br />
prone to forgetting my locker combination. As our<br />
freshman class president, she pushed through a piece<br />
of legislation that improved study hall conditions; I<br />
was in a study hall.<br />
My campaign manager is the starting left tackle<br />
on our football team—a sophomore whose GPA<br />
suggests multiple blows to the head. We adopt an<br />
aggressive media blitz: three posters that read—<br />
invitingly, if unconvincingly—“VOTE JOEY!”<br />
The exclamation point was my idea.<br />
I lost. Big. Think Mondale. Think election results<br />
announced over the loudspeaker in homeroom.<br />
Thus began the political ill-fortune that has<br />
followed me into adulthood. In everything from<br />
presidential to school board elections, I tend to<br />
support campaigns that end in either defeat or<br />
embarrassment—sometimes both.<br />
I was devoted to Jimmy Carter, who was first<br />
attacked by a ferocious swimming bunny while on<br />
vacation and then collapsed in the middle of a 10K<br />
run, his face as frightened and pale as mine when<br />
Ronald Reagan took the oath of office. In college, I<br />
supported Gary Hart (before he took up yachting),<br />
and in the 1988 Democratic primary, I proudly stood<br />
in Tom Harkin’s corner—by myself, apparently.<br />
Often in politics, the polls are fickle, the information<br />
ambiguous and inconclusive. But on this you<br />
may depend: If you have my vote, it’s unlikely you<br />
have anyone else’s.<br />
So I suffer from low political self-esteem and high<br />
political anxiety, which has resulted in an odd mixture<br />
of confusion and righteous indignation. As I write<br />
this, my hometown is bracing for the Republican<br />
National Convention, making plans to keep the<br />
protesters out and the bars open.<br />
Conservative commentators are getting more<br />
angry (Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh), liberal<br />
commentators more funny ( Jon Stewart, Stephen<br />
Colbert), and all sides are pining for that lost golden<br />
age of politics that consisted of clean campaigns,<br />
honorable candidates, objective media, and informed,<br />
intelligent voters who didn’t debate issues so much as<br />
share their already common values and—after a group<br />
hug—maybe a Bundt cake.<br />
Well, times have changed. Our challenges,<br />
enemies, economy, morals, determination and<br />
reputation—they aren’t what they used to be, and<br />
depending on who you are, the nation is being ruined<br />
by terrorists, gays, illegal immigrants, cultural elites,<br />
evangelicals, atheists, Muslims, racists, mortgage<br />
companies, oil companies, liberal media, conservative<br />
talk radio, radical peaceniks or environmentalists.<br />
There are real issues at stake in this election<br />
and much to be concerned about, from the serious<br />
(Do we really want to be a nation that tortures its<br />
enemies?) to the goofy (Do we really believe Obama<br />
is Muslim?). Most frightening of all, I think, is that<br />
we might really get the leaders we deserve—and that<br />
the last two presidents both reflect who we really are.<br />
Sure, there is plenty—or, as we Minnesotans say,<br />
“Pawlenty”—that divides us. But why see the chad<br />
as half-off rather than half-on? Even if we quibble<br />
about foreign and domestic policy, at least we all—red<br />
states and blue—agree on two things: 1) Our side<br />
represents common sense and decency, and 2) No one<br />
is listening to our common sense or respecting our<br />
decency.<br />
How odd that this system of government, designed<br />
to empower all people, has ended up making us all<br />
feel powerless, even when our side wins.<br />
I have run for one elective office since my<br />
unsuccessful bid for high school student council. A<br />
few years ago I was up for elder of my church. I ran<br />
unopposed and won by a narrow margin.<br />
Joey Horstman is an English professor at Bethel<br />
University in Minnesota. He earned a doctorate from<br />
Purdue University and is the author of Praise, Anxiety<br />
and Other Symptoms of Grace (Chalice 2000).<br />
32<br />
<strong>fall</strong> <strong>2008</strong>
Celebración<br />
Mexican folk dancing troupe Estrellas<br />
de Jalisco (Stars of Jalisco) performed in the<br />
DeWitt Theatre Arts Center Sept. 20 during<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong>’s celebration of Hispanic<br />
Heritage Month (Sept. 15–Oct. 15).<br />
The performance was part of a Hispanic<br />
Festival, hosted by the college and the<br />
Hispanic Story Project for campus and<br />
community members. Outside the DeWitt<br />
Theatre, a mariachi band strolled the<br />
campus green, serenading niños (and kidsat-heart)<br />
as they played traditional Hispanic<br />
games, listened to Spanish and English<br />
stories, and took turns pounding piñatas.<br />
<strong>Northwestern</strong>’s observance of Hispanic<br />
Heritage Month also included performances<br />
by internationally known bilingual<br />
storyteller Antonio Sacre.<br />
The Hispanic Story Project was initiated<br />
by Professor Barbara Turnwall, English.<br />
Turnwall and area writers are translating<br />
the stories of Hispanic immigrants to Sioux<br />
County; the collection, available in both<br />
English and Spanish, is being piloted as part<br />
of the curriculum in area schools.<br />
CARL VANDERMEULEN<br />
101 7th Street SW<br />
Orange City, IA 51041<br />
Ph. 712-707-7000<br />
www.nwciowa.edu<br />
Non-Profit<br />
U.S. Postage<br />
Paid<br />
SP&D<br />
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